Stories of Us
by missingstars89
Summary: A collection of Klaroline drabbles ranging from AU to AU/AH.
1. Have Yourself A Merry Little

He waits anxiously by the arrivals looking for any sign of the familiar blonde with the sunny smile in the midst of the crowded airport.

Nine months.

It had been nine long months since he had seen her off at this same airport and now he shifts impatiently, glancing down at his phone to check her flight information again when he sees her.

 _Caroline._

She's running toward him with that smile he would kill for and she lets out a laugh when she reaches him. She wraps her arms tightly around him and he does the same, unable to stop himself from thinking he's never letting her go again.

 _His Caroline._

The girl who made his life impossible growing up ever since Rebekah brought home her first - _and only_ \- friend in the fourth grade.

The woman who captured his heart and held it in her hands even if she did not know it.

xxx

"Quit being a grump."

"I am not a ' _grump_ '," he scoffs with a hint of offense hours later as he continues working on disentangling the Christmas lights from hell.

"He says in a grumpy tone," Caroline retorts teasingly as she sifts through the box of old ornaments, trying to find ones that aren't damaged.

When she hears him growl at the tangled mess that he only seemed to be making worst, she can't refrain from laughing, earning her a reproachful look from him and an actual pout.

"I'm so glad you find this amusing," he scowls as he tosses the tangled mess aside.

"Oh come on Grinch, where's your Christmas spirit?" she laughs.

"You do remember that the Grinch stole Christmas right?"

"And you also remember his heart grew three sizes and he saved Christmas right?" she points out with a smug grin. "So what do we need to do to make your heart grow a size or two Mr. Grinch?"

He rolls his eyes but can't stop the smirk that forms on his face as he takes in her teasing smile.

"They do say the quickest way to a person's heart is through their stomach…" she starts. "I was thinking take-out? Chinese?" she finishes with an adorably hopeful smile.

"I'll go get the menus," he chuckles.

She replies with that beaming smile that he's tried countless times to capture but has just never been able to properly do justice to.

"Yay! I seriously can't tell you how much I've missed the food from there," she exclaims a little dramatically, making him grin amusedly. "Okay, while you do that, I'll go get the other boxes of ornaments from my car," she adds happily, hurrying toward the door. "Don't forget to order extra egg rolls because I love you, but I'm seriously not sharing you tonight."

"Really getting into the holiday spirit aren't we love?" he quips with a smirk earning her one of her signature glares that he's missed more than he'll ever let on.

He watches her go and releases a small sigh as he takes in the other four large storage bins already crowding his living room.

He knows he's going to be in for one hell of an evening, no doubt decorating for the next few hours, or rather he would more than likely be moving decorations around while she orders him on where they go (this wasn't his first rodeo with her), but at least he'll be doing it with her.

 _Caroline._

The girl who made his life impossible growing up, plotting with Rebekah whenever he and his dear sister were in a fight, or fighting with his sister and he would be forced to mediate.

 _His Caroline._

The woman who made a claim on his heart and held it in her hands even if she did not know it.

Even if she did not want it.

It had been almost a year since she had unknowingly crushed his heart, almost a year since that drunken night on New Year's they spent together where he had allowed himself to hope.

 _But it was all false and fleeting hope._

What else could it be?

Deep down he had always known it had been too soon. She had just broken up with her boyfriend not two nights ago, or rather, _he had broken up with her_.

That was the reason that led to their drunken state. That was the reason she ended the night in his arms.

He knew but still, he had allowed himself to hope.

So when morning came and she had been gone, and when she walked out the door after they spoke about that night, effectively crushing any semblance of hope he had, he knew he only had himself to blame for daring to allow himself that hope in the first place.

But that night had been almost a year ago and things between them had eventually returned to normal. Well, as normal as they could be.

She had been gone halfway across the globe for 9 months due to work but they managed a way to keep in touch despite their busy schedules and time zone differences.

They made it work and she promised him they always would because they were friends.

 _Always and forever._

And now she was back. She was here, with him.

He watches her walk out of the room, his eyes drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

It had been almost a year since that night but still, he loved her. He had loved her for longer than he'd care to admit.

 _"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be."_

Dickens may have been a dark man but he knew what he was talking about.

Yes, he loved her. Always and forever.

Even if she did not know it.

xxx

"I think that's the last of it," Caroline says happily hours later as she steps back to admire the newly decorated room. "It actually looks like someone likes Christmas in here and no one will be the wiser to your Scrooge ways."

He lets out a derisive laugh as he lets himself fall back on the couch.

"I should certainly hope so. My entire living room looks like it's been transformed into Santa's workshop. Certainly felt like I was working in it too," he complains jokingly. "The elves should be thankful they don't have you to order them around."

She turns to glare at him and scoffs.

"You are such a baby! I've known 5 year olds that complain less than you!"

"That's because at that age they don't know any better."

She shakes her head with an incredulous laugh.

"Sometimes I think you're worst than Kol."

"Oh really?" he challenges, raising an eyebrow before reaching out and grabbing her wrist and pulling her back onto the couch with him.

After being away from her for so long, he feels like he can't get enough of her and just needs to feel her close. He also enjoys the way she playfully shrieks and her body shakes with laughter against his.

"Care to say that to my face sweetheart?"

She looks down at him with a barely concealed smile on her face as she raises her eyebrows challengingly.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I stutter?"

The next thing she hears is him growl before she feels herself being flung down on the couch and his body pinning hers in place while his hands start tickling her sides.

Between her bouts of laughter and playful screams for him to stop, she manages to grab one of the couch throw pillows and uses it to try and fight back.

For the next few minutes, all that can be heard is the sound of their laughter and a pillow repeatedly hitting him wherever she can reach.

Somehow during their little battle, they end up falling off the couch and land on the floor with a loud groan, their limbs tangled, both still laughing as they each surrender and their laughter eventually subsides.

"I've missed this," she confesses quietly as she makes herself comfortable and rests her head against his shoulder just like she has so many times throughout the years. "I've missed you."

 _More than you can imagine._

She breathes him in, finding comfort in the familiar scent she's missed for too long and for a moment she feels her chest ache at the memory of all the times she looked around for him during the last 9 months, wanting to show him something, to share a joke, or simply just…be.

He wraps an arm around her, holding her against him, and she smiles at the reminder that he's here now and he feels his lips curl up into a small smile of his own at her confession.

"Me too," he speaks quietly into her hair.

They fall into a comfortable silence and he absentmindedly draws random patterns on the side of her arm with his fingertips all the while reveling in the fact that she's really here. That she's in his arms again.

His Caroline.

He brushes her hand with his and frowns when he feels a couple of small scars he knows weren't there before.

"What happened?" he asks, brushing his thumb over one of them.

She looks down at their joined hands and shrugs slightly.

"I don't remember," she says. "They're old," she murmurs almost sleepily.

He feels her shift her head to glance at the time and hears her release a soft sigh before she disentangles herself from him and sits up, eliciting a sigh from him too.

Call him selfish, but he doesn't want her to leave. He's been without her too long.

"It's snowing," she says in surprise and he follows her gaze to see the thin white sheet sitting on the window ledge outside. "And it looks like it's coming down hard," she frowns as she stands up and walks over to the window to get a better look. "Figures," she mutters sarcastically. "I haven't driven in the snow in months, it hardly ever snows here but it decides to come down the day I get back."

She looks back at him to see that he's also sat up.

"Well Mikaelson, this evening has been fun but I think it's time I head out," she sighs.

"Or you could stay."

She blinks at him, almost as if in surprise.

"You could wait until it stops snowing," he suggests, hoping she can't hear the almost pathetic pleading in his voice.

He walks over so he's standing right beside her, a part of him crowding into her space and he could've sworn he heard her breath hitch.

"That could take hours," she reasons. "I should just go now."

"It does look like it's coming down hard," he agrees as he turns to face her again. "Stay. I'll pour us a drink, you pick something for us to watch. Anything you like. Even that dreadful Dancing with the Stars."

She scoffs at his comment about one of her favorite shows.

"Come on love," he cajoles with his irresistible puppy dog eyes. "It's cold out there. Wouldn't want you to get caught in the snow and get pneumonia now would we?"

She snorts and rolls her eyes.

"You're very pushy you know?" she smirks.

"I like to think of myself as opportunistic," he replies with a cheeky grin.

She shakes her head with a light laugh.

"Stay Caroline," he says in a much more serious voice than before, his eyes boring into hers. "Please."

His eyes stay locked on hers even though he wants to look away. He doesn't want her to see what he knows she'll find there.

"What kind of drink?" she finally says and he smiles, forcing himself to keep from audibly sighing in relief.

With what ease she puts a smile on his face and she smiles too.

A soft but warm smile only for him.

He loves that smile. That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.

xxx

He spots her standing across the room as soon as he walks in. It's been a couple of weeks since she returned but at times, he still can't believe that she's really back.

He quietly makes his way over to her, his eyes never leaving her as they desperately drink in, leaving him in awe of her beauty.

 _Genuine beauty._

She must feel his gaze on her because she slowly looks over her shoulder, a small smile tugging on her lips as she finds him standing there.

"Nice painting," she comments motioning toward the one she had just been studying. "It's a new one isn't it?"

He nods, trying not to appear too embarrassed about the fact that she's studying his work. It's not like she hasn't in the past.

"It's nice but did you run out of any other color that isn't black, navy blue or grey?" she continues with a teasing lilt to her voice and he chuckles. "It makes it seem like… there's something lonely about it."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he replies with a smirk that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "What are you doing here love? Not that I'm complaining," he adds with a cheeky grin. "Just surprised to see you here."

"I finished my Christmas shopping early. I was in the neighborhood and was wondering if you maybe wanted to grab some lunch?" she asks with a sheepish smile and this time it's his turn to blink at her in surprise.

So maybe when she said she was in the neighborhood she actually meant she was on the opposite end of town but before she knew it, she was making her way to his gallery to see him. She just needed to see him.

When he doesn't answer right away, however-

"If you can't it's fine. I know you're busy-"

"Caroline-"

"I know you have your new showcase you're getting ready for-"

"Sweetheart-"

"I should've called first-"

"Caroline, I'd love to," he finally interrupts, effectively cutting off her nervous ramblings, his voice laced with amusement, a part of him wondering why she was so nervous anyway?

"Yeah?" she smiles in a way that it makes his heart ache.

It aches for the bubbly blonde in front of him that was never the one. Always second best. An afterthought to those who dared to call themselves her friends. Sometimes even her own parents.

But not to him. Never to him and it saddened him that still after all this time, she still couldn't see that. That she still couldn't believe that.

"Yeah," he assures her with a small but dimpled grin.

 _Always_.

xxx

"No! You're doing it wrong! You need to do the dance too, it's a classic!"

"Kol if you don't knock it off!"

"I shan't it's Christmas!"

Klaus pauses at the loud commotion going on inside Caroline's home later that night.

 _Jingle bell,_

 _jingle bell_

 _jingle bell rock,_

 _Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time_

 _Dancer and Prancer in Jingle Bell Square_

 _In the frosty air_

He recognizes Caroline's melodic voice singing along to the annoyingly catchy tune and he hears her laugh and that's when he sees her with a bright red ugly Christmas sweater and little elf hat.

He stands back and silently watches, not making his presence known. Not like this. He doesn't want to ruin Caroline's night.

He's not even sure why he came. Maybe it's because he just had to see her. To make sure she was happy.

Even his siblings Kol and Rebekah are there. He sees Rebekah smiling into her cup and wearing some ridiculous furry Santa hat that matches her ugly Christmas sweater.

It was Caroline's Christmas party and unofficial welcome home party and he didn't trust her friends not to bail on her or ruin the night somehow. It's not like this would be brand new behavior for them.

But he sees her happy, singing into a microphone with the guy he recognizes as Enzo. Her coworker she went on the trip with and talked about quite often while she was away.

He hates the jealousy he feels at the sight of the two of them together and while a part of him demands he acts and make his presence known, he can't.

She looks happy.

He stands there for a few moments longer before he quietly walks away before anyone can notice.

He doesn't even make it to his car when he hears her calling his name.

"Hey," she says a bit breathlessly when she catches up to him. "Where are you going? You weren't leaving were you?"

"I…" he starts to lie but knows she'll see right through him.

She always does.

"Are you okay?" she asks quietly with a slight frown.

"I'm fine," the words come out mechanically but she looks at him skeptically.

Skeptically and almost a little mad. She knows what he's doing and she hates that he still does this. That he still tries to close himself off and deal with whatever it is all on his own.

And she supposes that's how he is and what he's used to but still, she wants to help him. She has this innate need to want to see everyone she cares about happy.

Especially him.

He notices the way she's wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the cold and he automatically moves to take off his jacket but she acts before he can and wraps her arms around his waist so he's holding her, trying to shield them both from the cold with his jacket.

He rests his head on the top of hers and breathes her in for a moment. A part of him still needing this to reassure himself that she's here. With him.

"I'll be fine," he finally sighs after a moment.

And he will. His father may have brought him to his knees before but he always found a way to stand again. This time would be no different.

Besides…

"I have you here with me again," he continues and she looks up at him with her soft blue eyes and he sees the warmth and gentleness in them.

 _That's all I need._

"Caroline! Where the hell did you go?"

They both sigh in unison before laughing a little quietly.

He sees something cross her eyes but before he can question it, she quickly looks away.

"Come on love, we should get you back to your party," he says as he pulls back, immediately missing her warmth as he does.

"The party can wait," she counters stubbornly. "Tell me what happened."

He gives her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That's a story for another time."

The look she gives him actually makes him chuckle.

"I promise we'll talk about it later…just not tonight," he says quietly.

She looks at him for a few moments before nodding reluctantly.

"But I hope you know I'm holding you to that."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," he laughs.

"Are you coming inside?" she asks and he can see the hopefulness in her eyes, hear it in her voice.

"Of course, love. It's not really a party until I arrive anyway," he adds teasingly.

She rolls her eyes with a laugh but then looks up at him with that smile.

He loves that smile.

That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.

xxx

He takes another sip of his "egg nog" that's really more alcohol than anything else while he watches his sister take her turn at the microphone.

She's not as bad as Kol but that's also not saying very much.

He may need a whole case of this eggnog though if he's expected to make it through the night.

"Hey," Caroline says beside him just then and he turns to see that her face looks a little flushed and she looks almost nervous? "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

She takes his hand and he follows her upstairs to where he knows her bedroom is and he can't help himself from remembering one of the last times he was in here, a part of him wondering if she does too.

He follows her inside and stands there awkwardly, memories of that night rushing to the forefront of his mind.

"You can sit down you know?" she tries to tease but he sees the pink on her face and he wonders if she's thinking about that night too or if it's about something else.

Still, he walks over and takes a seat on the edge of her bed while she rummages through her closet for a couple of minutes and comes back with a small gift bag and places it on his lap.

"Merry Christmas Klaus," she says with a smile as she takes a seat beside him and he smiles too.

Ever since they were growing up, they had made it a tradition to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. He should've expected that to remain the same even if she was having her party.

"Thank you love," he grins a bit sheepishly. "I'm afraid I'll have to owe you your gift until tomorrow though."

"That's fine just open it," she says eagerly and a bit nervously.

She bites her bottom lip, almost as if in contemplation.

"Or you can wait," she quickly adds. "If you want to wait until you're at home alone, I understand."

He looks at her questioningly, not sure what she's going on about.

"Are you alright sweetheart?"

"Yeah," she answers quickly.

A little too quickly.

"I'm fine."

He notices that her eyes never leave the small gift bag and his curiosity gets the better of him and when she bites her bottom lip again, he's left even more curious and he takes a look into the bag.

Whatever he expected to find…it was't that. For a few moments, all he can do is stare at what he finds.

"Do you like it?" she asks nervously…timidly. "Enzo and I found this place where they gave classes, well actually this vendor from one of the plazas told us about this place. I saw the vendor's post and immediately thought of you and how much I thought you would like it so you know, I started telling him about you and then he told me about these classes so I dragged Enzo with me the first time and-"

"You made this?" he interrupts, his voice a mixture of awe, surprise and maybe even a little disbelief.

"It was a process and a hell of a learning experience," she laughs sheepishly, showing him her hands and the scars suddenly make sense. "It was a lot of hits and misses."

His eyes widen and he's left speechless.

He looks down at her gift again. A carved hummingbird sitting on top of a carved wolf's head.

A carved hummingbird and wolf just like the ones he and Henrik used to do as kids. Just like the stories he told her long ago.

He looks up at her and he knows she must see the whirlwind of emotions stirring behind his eyes.

"You made this," he repeats and it's no longer a question. "You went through all this trouble…for me."

All for him.

She nods sheepishly but he sees something in her eyes that he can't quite identify.

"I would do anything for you," she says softly, her voice unwavering.

His chest tightens as she repeats his words. As she repeats the promise he made between jokes and drunken confessions that led to their one time tryst.

He keeps his eyes on hers and he sees that look again. That look she gave him when their fingers were intertwined above her head when he finally eased himself into her. That look that allowed him to hope.

Hope. What a fragile and fickle thing it could be and sometimes how unimaginably cruel.

 _But maybe sometimes..._

"Caroline…" he says quietly, a part of him suddenly terrified that this is all a dream but he sees a hint of that smile.

 _Maybe sometimes it can be something more._

The door bursts open and just like that, the spell is broken.

"There you are," Rebekah practically stumbles into the room, having clearly had a little too much of the eggnog and unaware of what she just interrupted. "It's your turn to sing with me Caroline because Nik is an awful singer. Come on!"

She grabs Caroline's hand and starts to tug her away while he remains behind and sighs in exasperation.

Right before she leaves the room, Caroline briefly meets his gaze and he sees that look is still there.

That look and that hint of that smile reserved just for him.

And that's all he sees before Rebekah drags her away and he's left with the gifts from her.

 _His Caroline._

The girl that became his partner in crime, helping him wreak havoc across the small town of Mystic Falls. The woman who made a claim on his heart and held it in her hands but maybe…

xxx

"Klaus!"

She walks through the empty gallery, looking for any sign of the man in question. He had texted her earlier asking her to meet him here but despite the fact that the front door had been unlocked, he was nowhere to be seen.

She walked down the hall toward the back room where she saw a light was on, wondering if that's where he was.

When she gets there however, she's disappointed to see no sign of him. Instead, she finds herself in an empty room surrounded by paintings she immediately recognizes as his.

Is this what he had been working on that he wouldn't show her?

She wonders if she should be in there and contemplates leaving but her curiosity gets the best of her when one of the paintings catches her eye.

She recognizes the place he's painted.

It's the park they used to play on growing up. She sees he's painted the swings they used to go on all the time and compete against each other to see who could go the highest.

The painting beside it also catches her attention.

It's a painting of a small hand brushing over the tall and unkempt grass in the fields. The same fields they hid out in for two hours one time when he was trying to hide from Mikael. The same fields where she sat down and cried for a long time after her dad left while Klaus sat beside her the entire time.

The same field where they promised each other they would always be friends.

 _Always and forever._

There's another one of a cloudy night on Bourbon street. Where they danced for hours during her first trip to New Orleans.

The wide open road on Route 66. That was their first road trip they took for her and Rebekah's high school graduation.

Big Sur in Northern California. Their final destination on that road trip.

She feels the tears pool in her eyes and looks around at the various paintings and sees their story being told all around her. Memories captured in time, forever immortalized on these canvases.

She stops in front of one off to the side that's of a rainy day in Seattle and she frowns as she looks at it. It's a dark and gloomy painting. The people all blend in with the shadows. There's only one bit of color and that's on a pair of electric blue rain boots. Just like the ones she bought.

She remembers that day and she's not sure why he chose to depict it on canvas.

She hears quiet footsteps behind her, making her spin around immediately and she feels her breath catch.

She hates that he has this effect on her where it sometimes literally feels like he's taking her breath away.

She sees his smile. That dimpled smile she loves so much.

That smile that feels like a safe haven for a lonely and damaged heart like hers.

He stops right beside her, his hands behind his back as he turns to look at her.

"What is all this?" she asks a little breathlessly, motioning to the paintings surrounding them.

"It's what I've been working on all year," he confesses a bit sheepishly. "What I'll be showcasing at the new opening in a few weeks."

She looks at him with eyes wide in surprise.

"You've been working on this all year?" she repeats.

He nods.

"I thought my muse should get to see it all beforehand," he chuckles lightly.

"Why?" she asks in a voice just above a whisper. "Why this?"

He looks at her and gives her a look. One that says she already knows.

She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out and he turns his attention back to the painting with the rain boots.

"This one is one of my favorites," he admits with a small grin. "That was quite a day."

To put it bluntly, it was a shit day. They messed up their hotel reservations. They got a flat tire on their way to visit the Space Needle. It was pouring outside. She dropped her phone in a puddle of water. There was major road construction going on so they got stuck in traffic for two and a half hours and missed their dinner reservations.

"It felt like everything that could go wrong did," he continues with a small chuckle.

"It was our own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day," she jokes, still a little breathless.

She remembers that by the end, as they were left wandering to find another place to eat, all she could do was laugh and she finally did what she had been wanting to do all day since she put on her rain boots. She went and she jumped into a large puddle like she used to do as a little girl while he looked at her like she was insane.

"Why'd you choose to paint that day?" she asks curiously.

"It was your first day in Seattle and it was a disaster. But when I saw you jumping in that puddle with your bright blue boots, laughing like it was the greatest thing in the world, like we just hadn't wasted our entire day with one frustrating situation after the next…" he explains with a hint of a smile and she eagerly waits for him to continue.

He turns so he's fully facing her now.

"That's when I knew I was in love with you," he confesses, a hint of vulnerability in his voice. "And I've loved you ever since."

She gasps and for a second, she forgets how to breathe.

"I don't expect-"

Whatever else he's going to say, he never gets to finish because in that next moment, his arms are full of a bubbly blonde who's claiming his lips the same way she's claimed his heart and perhaps…

xxx

She sighs and runs her hands through his curls while she feels him nip and suck on her skin and lets her head fall back against the pillow. She's thankful that they actually made it back to hers because it was seeming a little questionable on the car ride here.

She cries out in pleasure when he bites down on her collarbone before soothing it with his tongue and open-mouthed kisses and she smiles against his skin.

She can't imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else.

A part of her always knew they would end up here. A part of her wished for it.

He takes his time kissing and exploring down her body, reacquainting himself with every curve, every crevice, every inch of skin, making a trail with his hands and fingertips for his lips and tongue to follow.

He intends to worship every inch of her but when he swirls his tongue over one of her nipples and feels her tug on his curls impatiently, he smirks against her skin, knowing she has other plans.

He looks up at her and acquiesces when she pulls his head up, bringing his mouth to hers for another heated and hungry kiss.

He readily swallows her moans when he cups and then palms her breast, his other hand continuing its journey south, down her sides, her hips, her thighs, before finally reaching its destination.

She breaks the kiss and moans loudly when his finger comes in contact with her swollen bundle of nerves. She rests her head in the crook of his neck and tries to stifle her cries as he inserts another finger and bites down on his shoulder causing him to moan in approval.

"Klaus…" she pants breathlessly, quickly pressing her lips against his once more. "I need you."

He bites back a groan, her words and that heated look in her eyes alone making him almost come undone.

He looks down at the blonde beauty underneath him as he positions himself.

He takes in her red lips swollen from all their kisses, the pink flush of her skin, the hungry look in her eyes.

He sees the hunger but he also sees something else. Something that leaves him breathless and he's kissing her again.

He's kissing her slowly, tenderly as he finally eases himself inside her and she breaks the kiss with a loud gasp, her body arching up into his as he cups her breast.

Her hands wander down his back, her lips make a trail down his neck and across his shoulder blade before inevitably finding his lips again as he picks up the pace and she wraps her legs around his waist, crying out at the sensitive spot he hits with this new angle.

He kisses every inch of skin he sees too. Every kiss a silent confession.

 _I love you._

A silent promise.

 _Always and forever._

She comes undone with a loud sob, his name on her lips and he continues moving, prolonging her pleasure before he follows her over the edge.

He rests his head in the crook of her neck as he gasps for breath as he comes down from his high.

He feels her fingers gently combing through his curls.

"I love you."

Her voice is so soft, so quiet he almost wonders if he's imagined it but when he looks up at her, he sees it in her eyes, in her smile.

She's not afraid anymore. A year ago she was dating boys she knew she had no future with, trying to convince herself of something she knew wasn't the truth. She liked them yes, but deep down there was Klaus.

 _There was always Klaus._

It always came back to him and she was afraid. She had been since before that night they spent together. Afraid that she would lose him. Afraid that she would lose herself because she knew that a love like theirs, it would be an all consuming love. She knew it was the forever kind and she wasn't ready. She was afraid then but now…

"I love you," she repeats, her lips curling automatically into a smile.

He kisses her again, letting himself revel in the words he'd never thought he hear come from her.

He breaks the kiss and he lightly brushes his fingertips over her lips, tracing that smile he loves so much.

That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.

She kisses his fingertips before he moves off her and she settles her head on his chest, directly over his heart.

She sighs in contentment as she feels his fingertips lightly brushing up and down her spine and the two just lie there for a long while, neither one making any attempt to move and after a while she can begin to feel that sleepiness start to settle in but before it does, she looks up at him only to find his gaze already on her. His gaze is filled with what she could only describe as pure unbridled adoration and she doesn't know how anyone could ever look at her that way. But he does.

He always does. Always has.

He gives her a smile that she returns.

Those smiles they both love so much.

Those smiles that were a home and a safe haven for damaged and weary hearts like theirs but maybe, they didn't have to be lonely anymore…


	2. Always

**Hello! This is a repost that was requested over on tumblr. :) Just a warning, if you don't like angst, might want to skip this one.**

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She walks into his room and sees her best friend and the love of her life lying in bed, his face pale and even from where she is standing, she can hear him struggling for breath.

She immediately feels the tears well up as a heavy feeling settles on her heart; her heavy heart that seems to be beating even more slowly but as she sees the man the she loves lying in that bed, she's surprised that it's beating at all.

I can't do this she panics. She doesn't want him to see her upset like this but before she even has the opportunity to move, he slowly opens his eyes with what appears to be a great deal of effort.

The way his face still manages to light up with a smile as soon as he sees her feels like another blow to her heart.

They had their ups and downs just like any other relationship but there was one thing that nobody could ever deny: they were crazy about each other even when they drove each other crazy.

"Hello sweetheart," he says in a low and labored voice.

He sees the tears in her eyes and reaches out for her and she all too willingly rushes over to take his hand, the knot in her throat growing thicker when she feels his hand colder than it normally is. She intertwines their fingers and brings up their joined hands to press a kiss on the back of his.

She clasps his hand with her free one, almost as if trying to warm it up and feels the first tear fall when she feels him bring up his other hand to tuck some loose strands behind her ear and cup the side of her face.

"It's alright love, it's alright," he says soothingly in that same tone that had always managed to bring her a sense of comfort.

She doesn't say anything and merely shakes her head furiously, refusing to let go of his hand wrapped between hers and refusing to look at him.

She can't bring herself to do it without losing it completely and having a total breakdown in front of him.

It's not like she hasn't broken down in front of him in the past but this time would be different and she can't do fears if she allows herself to give in, she'll never be able to stop the tears and she can't do that now. Not in front of him.

"Look at me, sweetheart," he says gently, lightly stroking the side of her face with his thumb.

She sucks in a breath and closes her eyes to try and keep the tears from falling.

"Caroline look at me," he says again firmly, bringing his hand to gently lift her chin up.

She forces herself to slowly open her eyes and barely manages to make out his features through her tears as the second tear runs down her face followed closely by a third and soon she loses count when she feels him lean in and begin to press light kisses against her cheeks, trying to capture every tear with his lips. He then pulls back and cups both sides of her face before he leans in and captures her lips in a gentle yet passionate kiss that makes her heart both swell and feel like it is breaking at the same time.

She wraps one hand around his neck and caresses the side of his face with the other, while he uses his strength to pull her in closer, feeling like he would never be able to hold her close enough.

He wants nothing more than to keep kissing her but his already weak lungs demand a break to catch some air so he forces himself to pull back and rests his forehead against hers as he struggles to get some air while simultaneously trying to breathe in her intoxicating scent.

"How are you feeling?" she asks and he can hear the concern in her voice.

"I'm alright love," he sighs and tries to smile and make some innuendo but his body betrays him and he begins coughing and wheezing instead.

He can't really see her but he feels her immediately jump into action and try to help him the way she had been doing for months now. He feels her warm touch on his back and he leans into it, sighing when he feels her help him lay back against the propped pillows.

"I'm going to go get a nurse," she says as she makes to stand up but he quickly stops her.

"There's no need. Just stay here with me," he says with slow and panted breaths.

She looks at him warily and he can see that she's unconvinced so he tugs on her hand to pull her closer to him.

"I don't need a nurse, I just want to spend some time with you," he says in a low voice that makes her heart ache that much more.

She silently nods her head slowly and watches as he slowly adjusts his position to make room for her on the tiny bed.

"Klaus what are you doing?" she instantly protests as she tries to stop him. "You need to be comfortable-"

"If I recall correctly we managed to make it work in a bed about this size all through your college dorm years, granted we were partaking in much more pleasurable activities," he says in a labored voice but with that dimpled grin that makes her fall even more in love with him.

She feels a smile tug on her lips that doesn't quite reach her eyes when she sees him pat the now open space next to him with that adorable grin still in place.

She shakes her head with a small sigh before carefully lying down next to him, trying to take up as little space as possible but he seems to know how to fix this space problem as he tugs her closer until her head is resting on his chest and her leg is tangled with his, his arm wrapped around her waist.

She breathes in his scent and feels his heartbeat against her ear and for just a moment, she can pretend that this is just like any other day at home for them.

"Rebekah came by earlier," he comments after a moment of lying there in silence.

A moment that she knew he needed to regain his breath. Even now she can hear it is still labored but at least it's steadier.

"She dropped off a present," he continues and points to the chair behind her.

She turns around and it's then she notices a deep blue gift bag and reaches over to see what appears to be two medium-sized photo albums. She opens the first one to see it's an array of pictures of him and his family, mostly him and his siblings, none of his father, that were taken throughout the years. She gushes over his baby pictures, much to his embarrassment and he quickly tries to skip over those only to cringe when they land on his adolescent ones. Feeling like he's had enough torture, he puts the book aside and she laughs while pulling out the other album and opens it to reveal a colorful cover page with individual pictures of her and Klaus as well as pictures of the two of them together.

"Have you looked at this?" she asks as she brings up her gaze to meet his.

He shakes his head and tugs her close to him again, feeling like there was too much space between them. She settles her head against his shoulder and he rests his head on top of hers as the two flip through the book together. They chuckle and make comments about some of the photos that ranged from the time they were dating, to their engagement pictures, their time being engaged, and finally, pictures of their actual wedding day.

Rebekah had created a theme for each page and had put such thought and intricate detail into every page that Caroline felt her chest tighten at the thought that her sister-in-law had taken such care and time into every detail. That it mattered this much to her.

Going through it with Klaus was bittersweet as she relived what felt like a thousand different memories with every page she turned to. She wasn't even aware of the tears that had formed in her eyes until she saw one land on one of the pages and felt Klaus immediately rub her arm soothingly and kiss the top of her head.

"That one is my favorite," he says as he points to one of the pictures on the page.

It was a candid photo taken of them after their rehearsal dinner where she has her arms wrapped around his neck and he's cradling her face and looking at her with such love it brings more tears to her eyes.

She knew why it was his favorite because as soon as she saw it, she remembered that night and what had taken place just before this picture was taken.

He had asked her to join him for a walk after the dinner while their families and wedding party were distracted. The two needed some space from the rest of the group after the disaster that the day had been and the stressful week. The two snuck off to the botanical gardens that were part of the restaurant and overlooked the ocean.

He had stopped her when they reached the end of the gardens and turned to face her with a smile that was both nervous and excited and she remembered seeing what felt like a different emotions crossing his eyes all at once.

 _"Do you know that since the moment I laid eyes on you I was captivated but did my best not to let it show?" he asked with his infamous smirk. "If you ever repeat this, particularly to Kol, I'll probably deny it but since I met you, there have been so many times I felt like an inexperienced teenage boy trying to woo a girl for the first time."_

 _She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck while he instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist to draw her in closer._

 _"You acted like it a lot too," she teased making him narrow his eyes playfully at her. "You weren't as smooth as you thought you were."_

 _"Is that so?" he asked with a playful smirk before he leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss that felt like it ended as soon as it began._

 _"I will never understand why you picked me but I will spend the rest of my days trying to prove to you that you did not make a mistake," he said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on hers so that she could see the honesty in them._

 _"You don't have anything to prove," she responded without hesitation as she brought down a hand to cup the side of his face. "I love you even when I don't like you. I know who you are and that's the man I choose," she continued pecking his lips lightly. "Even when it gets hard. It's always going to be you. I love you."_

 _He responded with a blinding smile and was kissing her again before she could say anything else and when they pulled back, she could see the hint of vulnerability in his eyes._

 _"Just like it's always going to be you, love," he promised in a low voice. "I've always stayed ahead of the game and done well for myself and my business because I always I planned, strategized, everything was always accounted for. I took pride in seeing things coming ahead of time. You however, there was no accounting for, there was no predicting you even to this day you continue to surprise me."_

 _She smirked and listened attentively as he continued._

 _"I never thought it was possible to care about someone outside of my family so much," he confessed in a voice barely above a whisper and she had to wonder if he even intended for her to hear that. "I love you, Caroline. More than you'll ever know and so long as you'll have me, I'll never let you go."_

 _She responded with a bright smile of her own, tears forming in her eyes and now it was her turn to crash her lips against his._

Caroline still remembers that day because in some ways, those were their secret vows that they got to share with each other. It was like a secret that belonged to them alone and in a way, she had always felt like that was the start of their new chapter together.

Kol and Rebekah had gone off to look to for them and had captured this picture right after.

She looks up at him with the tears in her eyes and gives him a small smile.

"It's my favorite too," she says.

He starts to cough and pant for breath again and she does what she can to soothe him. The cough attacks keep getting worst as his body grows weaker. She tries not to think about what this means. She refuses to but in that moment, she knows she's not going to have this luxury much longer.

It isn't fair. None of it is fair. She's only had three short years with him since they exchanged their vows. Only three years since they made those promises to love each other and grow old with each other.

They're supposed to get into fights and then fuck on every surface until they can't move. They're supposed to explore places together and try new things. She hasn't even gotten him to watch "The Notebook" with her yet! She thought she had time. They were supposed to have more time. This can't be how their story ends. She refuses to believe that everything they went through, all the battles they had to face to finally be together, that this is how things will end. When they exchanged those vows she thought they had a lifetime together, not three short years.

He finally stops coughing and leans back against the pillows, the exhaustion written all over his face.

She moves to get up and get the nurse but he keeps his hold on her and refuses to let her go.

"Klaus-"

"Stay," he says in a low voice that's barely a whisper. "Stay with me."

She looks at him through the tears in her eyes and feels her heart shatter when she sees him slowly open his eyes and look at her with such sadness and exhaustion. After fighting this disease for more than a year, his body is finally ready to give in and this thought is more than she can bear.

"Please," he whispers.

She leans back and curls into him like she's done so many times before and a small sob escapes her because somehow she knows this will be the last time she gets do this.

"It's okay sweetheart," he whispers as he tightens his hold on her.

"It's not okay Klaus none of it is okay," she sobs against his chest, her small frame beginning to shake with the broken sobs escaping her.

He continues to hold her and rub her arm soothingly as he continues to whisper over and over in her ear "It's going to be okay, love I promise."

She tightens her grip around his waist, desperately clinging to him and never wanting to let him go as her tears soak through his hospital gown.

"We were supposed to have a lifetime," she whispers between a broken sob.

"I know this isn't what we signed up for but I wouldn't trade anything about the life we lived together, short as it may have been," he says in a tight and labored voice. "I love you Caroline and I'm thankful for the time I did have to love you and earn your love in return."

She tries to bury her face deeper into him when she feels him take her chin with his thumb and forefingers and tilt her face up to meet his gaze. She looks into those blue eyes that she's committed to memory and feels a new wave of tears form when she sees him looking at her with the love radiating from them. She sees him looking at her the same way he looked at her when he proposed to her and when they exchanged their vows and so many times since and in between.

He's looking at her with a look that promised her he loved her.

He would always love her.

"I would give anything to have more days with you and to take you to all those places I promised. While my time is running out, you still have your whole life ahead of you sweetheart and I need you to promise me that you're going to live it and not feel guilty about moving on."

"Klaus don't-"

"I know it hurts now, love but there's going to come a day when you won't hurt as much anymore and the day when you'll have the desire to travel and you'll have new dreams you'll want to fulfill and when that day comes, I want you to be okay with it," he says in a tight voice, the tears welling in his eyes despite his efforts. "I want you to live the life you always dreamed of Caroline, even if I don't get to be a part of it."

"Don't you dare start talking about falling in love again because I will kill you right here and right now do you hear me?" she says through tears.

He smiles but it comes out weak as his body begins to give in to the exhaustion. He gently caresses her face and wipes away some of the tears.

"You'll know when you're ready for that step, love. Just remember, there's a whole world out there waiting for you and you can experience all of it. Your story isn't over, Caroline. Not by a long shot."

She can barely see him through the tears in her eyes as she leans in and places a soft but ardent kiss against his lips that he quickly deepens allowing her access to explore every inch, every crevice of his mouth while he does the same. It's a kiss that's filled with all of their love pouring into it, all of their unspoken desires, all of their unfulfilled dreams and when they're forced to pull apart, tears are streaming down both of their faces.

She wipes away some of the tears with her thumbs and lips before resting her forehead against his and shutting her eyes as another broken sob escapes her body.

"I'll always love you," she whispers. "In this lifetime and the next. Always."

He presses a soft and gentle kiss against her forehead.

"Loving you is the best thing that happened to me," he whispers against her lips as he rests his forehead against hers.

He holds her as she curls into him and eventually, she finally stops crying. She can feel his breathing grow more shallow and she looks up to see him and somehow she knows it's almost time. She instinctively tightens her grip around his waist and he does the same she intertwines their free hands together. His eyes are closed but she knows he's awake.

"Will you wait for me?" she asks in a soft voice that's barely a whisper.

He doesn't immediately but instead brushes her wedding ring with his thumb gently.

"Always," he whispers.

She curls back into him and the two hold each other without saying another word. She holds him as he falls asleep and she continues holding him until his body finally succumbs and gives in to the disease.

One of the nurses finally peels her away from him and then she finds Elijah holding her. She buries her face into her brother-in-law's chest and clings to him as he carries her out of the room.

She had known this moment was coming but even all the time in world wouldn't have been enough to prepare her for this instant. The moment where she felt like the world was ripped out from under her.

She thinks about their last conversation and what he told her he wanted for her. She would laugh again one day and pick up new dreams while fulfilling some of the dreams they had shared together. She could promise him that but not today.

She looks down at her wedding ring and can almost feel his warm and calloused fingers gently brushing against it as fresh tears roll down her face.

"Loving you is the best thing that happened to me," she whispers. "I will always love you."

She knows in that instant that no matter how much time passes, no matter where she goes, she'll carry him with her. Today. Tomorrow.

Always.


	3. Home

As soon as he walks into the house, he hears her rummaging about in the kitchen and he feels his lips automatically curve into a smile and he makes his way toward the kitchen without another thought, thinking how his horrid day had just gotten _a whole lot_ better.

He's hidden it well but he's missed her since she left a few days ago to go visit her friends in that blasted one pony town. He noted she was back early and he couldn't help but wonder if that was a good or a bad thing?

Stefan had called her to let her know that they had found a way to wake the doppelgänger up from her sleeping curse and so for the first time in almost a decade, Caroline had returned to her hometown.

He had done his best to hide it, to hide his fear that she would return to Mystic Falls and not come back to him once she was in the company of her friends and was reminded of all that she left behind.

He knew that a small town life would never be enough for her but maybe he wasn't either.

After decades apart, he and Caroline had finally their way back to each other, but even after being with her for 5 years, there was a part of him that still expected her to bolt at any second.

He finds her kneading out a large chunk of dough and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees three trays of freshly baked cupcakes and he can smell something else baking in the oven.

"Are we having a bake sale of some sort, love?"

She looks up and he can see her surprise at seeing him there, making him quirk an eyebrow. She must've been really distracted if she hadn't even heard him come in.

"Caroline, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she answers quickly, conveniently turning to the sink to wash her hands and not have to face him.

He sighs and is behind her before she can move, resting his hands on her hips and pressing a soft kiss on the side of her neck, breathing in her soft scent that he's missed.

He smiles a little at the way she releases a soft sigh and eases back into him.

"What happened in Mystic Falls?" he asks quietly and feels her stiffen.

"What you would expect," she tries to shrug nonchalantly but the quiver in her voice betrays her. "Damon being an ass, and the rest of my friends patronizing me and determining what was best for me because you know, I totally can't do that on my own. It's not like I'm a vampire and have been on my own for the better part of two decades or anything," she finishes sarcastically just as the oven timer beeps.

She moves out of his embrace and he sighs at the loss. He had never been one for constant physical contact but after 4 days of worrying he wouldn't see her again, he just needed to feel her almost as if to reassure himself that she was real. That this was real.

"Just because I'm frozen forever at 17 doesn't mean _I am_ 17," she continues as she slams down the tray before going to the refrigerator and throwing it open with enough force that Klaus was genuinely surprised she didn't take the door right off its hinges.

"I'm almost 50 Klaus. _Fifty!_ Do you know how insulting it is for them to treat me like I'm still a teenager going through my rebellious stage or whatever? Or just driven by my hormones and shacking up with the hot bad guy because of the incredible, mind-blowing sex?"

Had she not been so angry, he might've thrown in an innuendo that he knew would either make her blush or spark her interest, maybe both, and despite the fact that he could very much go for spending the rest of the evening lost in her, he finds himself frowning at what she was telling him.

Turns out he hadn't been wrong when he told her that they were going to try to talk her out of being with him but for the first time, he was not pleased by the fact that he was right.

"What exactly happened?" he asks, studying her closely where she was kneeling in front of the fridge looking for some ingredient.

"Nothing worth talking about," she answers, her voice sounding weary and exhausted and when she turns he could see it written all over her face.

She slides back against the adjoining freezer door and rests her head against it and he walks over to join her without thinking about it.

He knows that whatever happened, was bothering her more than she was trying to let on and it made him want to go to Mystic Falls himself and tear them all limb by limb for hurting Caroline. The Bennett witch and the insufferable Enzo were lucky they weren't included in that group, having been the only two that had accepted Caroline's decision.

Almost as if sensing his thoughts, she turns to look at him with a serious look on her face.

"I'll be fine Klaus, no killing my friends," she tells him sternly making him arch an eyebrow. "Or maiming them or torturing them either."

"You might find it'll make you feel better," he offers with a smirk, knowing very well what she would respond and sure enough, he isn't surprised in the slightest when she rolls her eyes but he could see the tiniest hint of a smile there.

"It'll make you feel better," she shot back.

He shrugs his shoulders unabashedly and she nudges his side but a small giggle escapes her lips and he smiles at the sound.

Unfortunately the sound is short lived and she soon resumes her sad countenance and he bites back a sigh of frustration, not sure what to do.

She was at odds with her friends, though he did feel the term "friends" was used far too loosely here, but he feels responsible nonetheless. They wouldn't have a problem with her choosing anyone else. Anyone except him.

 _"You're going to ruin her. You're going to destroy her and then I'm going to destroy you."_

He had laughed at the Ripper's words all those years ago when Caroline had finally accepted him but that nagging fear that Stefan was right had always stuck with him.

 _"You're going to ruin her. You're going to destroy her..."_

It's simply what he did. He brought chaos and destruction to all that crossed his path like it was second nature to him.

He should've let her go when he had the chance. When she still had a chance. But he was a selfish bastard and as long as she would have him, he would never let her go.

"Elena will come around," she says and he's not sure if she is talking more to herself than to him.

With the doppelgänger now human, they are both very much aware of the fact that they weren't working with an indefinite amount of time for the two friends to make up.

"I'm sure she's saying the same about you," he responds before he could stop himself.

She shrugs and doesn't say anything else and they both sit there quietly for a while.

"Do you think you ever will?" he asks quietly, looking straight ahead. "Come around, I mean."

He hears her scoff and he is willing to bet she had also rolled her eyes. He's distracted when he feels her move onto his lap but there nothing sexual about that moment. They may as well have been sitting across from one another.

"Do you think you'll ever stop waiting for the other shoe to drop?" she asks quietly as she gently cups the side of his face while his hands automatically drop down to her hips. "I'm here with you because I want to be. This is my decision and you know better than anyone that I didn't just rush into it. Seriously, how long did it take?"

At this, he chuckles and acquiesces her point and she smiles too.

"I'm sorry your trip didn't go the way you hoped," he tells her, reaching up and tucking a curl behind her ear.

"Me too," she admits in a soft voice.

"Is there anything I can do?"

He very much doubts there is anything he could do to help the situation save perhaps leave her, but that isn't an idea he is even willing to entertain.

"You already are," she answers with a small smile as she leans in and presses a light kiss against his lips before pulling back and nuzzling her head in the crook of his neck.

She sighs softly when she feels his warm and calloused hand rest on her hip and lightly caress the exposed skin there with his thumb.

Even though it isn't the most comfortable place, they sit on that floor for a long time just holding one another. She runs her fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck and he lets the pads of his fingers softly run down the column of her spine, both breathing the other one in and feeling that sense of comfort wash over them both.

"Did you enjoy your trip home at all?" he asks after a while and feels her stop her ministrations.

"I wasn't home Klaus," she answers quietly, pulling back so she could look at him and meet his gaze. "But I am now."

She keeps her eyes locked on his hoping that he would understand the meaning behind her words.

Ever since her mother's death, she had felt like something was missing, like she no longer belonged and despite her best efforts to continue living the life the she had grown up with, she eventually realized what was missing. Why her home no longer felt like home.

It took her years to be able to admit it to herself but eventually she accepted that for her, home was not just a building or the place where she grew up. They brought her a sense of comfort because they were familiar yes, but Mystic Falls was no longer home. It hadn't been since her mother died.

Decades later, after traveling much of the world alone for a while and then with him, she had finally found her home again and not in this city or this building.

When he leans in to capture her lips with his own and holds her tightly against him, she tilts her head to deepen the kiss and she smiles into the kiss.

They break apart after a while and he rests his forehead against hers and smiles.

For the first time since she left, he feels like he could smile properly again, for he was home too.


	4. Trapped Again

Prompt: "We're both teachers and I don't know about you but I think our students are trying to set us up because this is the fifth time we've been locked in the supply closet/classroom and I can hear them giggling outside" AU

xxx

Caroline grumbled under her breath in annoyance as she stacked the rolls of toilet paper back into their boxes. She was supposed to be chaperoning prom right now and instead she was cleaning up toilet paper.

 _Seriously?_

Some of her students had come to get her and let her know about a couple of students they had seen coming in and out of one of the supply closets with rolls of toilet paper, most likely to teepee somebody's house. Even though one of the other teachers was supposed to be patrolling the halls throughout the dance, Caroline decided to go investigate for herself and sure enough, she found a couple of boxes knocked over and now here she was.

She turned when she heard the door open and was surprised to see Klaus walk in. She was about to ask him what he was doing there but the question died on her tongue when she took in how handsome he looked in that suit. She had only seen him from afar earlier and she had thought he looked good then, but now seeing him up close, she could feel a jolt of arousal shoot through her.

When she looked back up and met his gaze, she sensed she wasn't the only one feeling this way.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be chaperoning up front?" she asked, forcing herself to push back her sudden less than decent thoughts.

 _You're at a SCHOOL and the place where you WORK!_

"I was, but some of my students told me about some kids stirring up some trouble around here," he responded as he took a step closer to her, a sexy smirk playing on his lips. "Might I take this moment to tell you how ravishing you look in that dress, Miss Forbes?"

"Thank you," she responded, feeling her self flush slightly because of the heated way he was looking at her and the way her name rolled off his tongue. "And not to inflate your already big ego, but you look pretty dashing yourself Mr. Mikaelson," she added teasingly.

He smirked as he bent down to help her.

"You know I love it when you call me Mr. Mikaelson?"

She rolled her eyes but could feel herself blush a little more and made to grab another toilet paper roll.

"We are so not doing this here," she tried to say sternly but the smile playing on her lips diminished her efforts.

"Doing what?" he asked all too innocently but the look in his eyes was anything but.

She shook her head with a small smile and continued working.

"Perhaps we could share a dance later?" he asked as he stacked away some of the rolls too.

"Perhaps," she replied coyly as she put in the last roll and helped him put the boxes back in their place. "First we have to do all that fun chaperone stuff and also find whoever did this."

She was making her way to open the door when she felt his hand tug on her elbow before he was spinning her around and in the next second, she felt his lips come crashing down on hers.

She knew she should've pulled away, this was so not the right place or time and literally anyone could walk in and see them, but that part of her brain that was screaming all of this was drowned out by the much larger part of her that wanted him.

So she kissed him back just as eagerly.

That was until she heard the sound of something bumping against the door, causing her to immediately pull back and quickly try to fix her hair from where he had tangled his hands in it.

"We should probably get back to our stations," she said a little breathlessly, quickly fixing his collar but when she made to move back, he took her hands in his, prompting her to look up at him.

"Only if you promise to save me a dance," he said with a dimpled grin that soon turned into a wolfish smile. "And that we'll continue this later?"

She rolled her eyes with a light laugh before looking at him again.

"I think we can work something out," she winked, leaning in to give him another quick peck on the lips before straightening out her dress.

With that she turned to leave but ran into a slight problem when she realized the door wouldn't open.

"What?" she muttered with furrowed eyebrows, trying to open the door a little more forcefully this time only to be met with the same results.

This time however, she could've sworn she heard what sounded like giggling coming from outside.

"Oh, not again," she groaned.

"What's the matter?" Klaus asked.

"Hey! I can hear you out there!"

In retrospect that might not have been her finest move considering the next thing she heard was the sound of footsteps rushing away from the door.

"The door is locked," she informed him with a frown.

She noticed him frown too before attempting to try and open the door himself, almost as if he didn't believe her. After failing, he turned to look at her only to be met with her, _"I told you so"_ look.

"Notice how this keeps happening only to us?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure our students are trying to set us up because this is like the _fifth_ time something like this has happened and I'm pretty sure I heard some of the girls giggling outside just now."

She could feel the annoyance bubbling inside of her so needless to say she was a little taken aback when he simply laughed.

"Klaus, it's not funny!"

"No, I know I know," he replied, the laughter clear in his voice.

"Then stop laughing," she tried to chide but there was something about his laughter and smile that were a little contagious and she found herself smiling a little too before sucking in a deep breath. "You know this is all your brother's fault right?" she added. "Ever since he locked us up in the media room, this all started happening."

Klaus merely smirked and shrugged.

"While normally I am inclined to want to hurt Kol, I can't find it in myself to do so for this occasion since it worked out so favorably for me," he replied cheekily, garnering a playful scoff and glare from her.

"So I was the only one to get the short end of the stick then?" she teased, laughing when he narrowed his eyes at her and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her to him.

He kissed her again and it wasn't long before she melted into it but just as quickly as it started, she pulled back, grinning up at his slight pout.

"We still need to get out of here," she reminded him and he relented with a sigh.

After more than ten minutes had passed however, she huffed in frustration and leaned back against the door.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck in here this time?" she sighed.

"Well the last few times it's been about an hour."

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do for an hour?"

"I can think of a few things," he said with that sexy smirk that screamed his less than innocent intentions.

"We are not having sex in this closet, Klaus."

"Who said anything about sex?" he asked a little too innocently. "So quick to jump to conclusions, but it's nice to know where your mind is, sweetheart."

"Oh so it's just my mind right?" she challenged.

She looked up at him through her thick eyelashes, giving him a heated look as she pulled down on his tie, and damn if he didn't feel aroused in that moment. She leaned in and slowly skimmed her lips along his jaw, working her way up to his ear before whispering.

"I should probably stop then."

With that she pulled back, grinning deviously at him.

"Tease," he growled.

She laughed and wrapped both her arms around his neck while he kept his wrapped around her waist.

"I'd told you we'd work something out later," she said against his lips before pressing them against his in a heated kiss that was full of promise for what was to come.

Later could not come soon enough.

* * *

"Hey, what are you guys doing out here?" Kol asked the small group of students huddled together and gigging outside in the hall.

They immediately stopped laughing and turned to face him.

"Nothing," one of them responded a little too quickly.

"Nothing?" he repeated dubiously. "You guys are going to have to try a lot harder than that to try and fool me. I practically invented pranks and can recognize when one is taking place before me so I will ask again, what are you guys doing out here?"

He followed their line of sight and saw that several of them were looking at one of the janitor's supply closet across the hall.

"What's in there?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

The students all looked around at each other nervously, neither one wanting to say and Kol had to fight back a smirk. He really enjoyed the power that came with this job sometimes.

"Well?" he asked sternly.

"Um…I think Mr. Mikaelson and Ms. Forbes are in there," one of the answered, garnering her a glare from the others.

This time he seriously had to fight back a laugh.

"Did you- did you lot lock your teachers in that closet?" he tried to ask in a serious tone.

When they looked away guiltily, he knew he had his answer and never had he felt more pride for a group of students than in that moment. But he knew he couldn't exactly show it, "leading by example" and whatnot.

"In the spirit of celebrating your prom night, I will allow you guys the opportunity to return to your dance and I will let your teachers out so they don't have any names," he said in that same serious voice.

The relief that spread among them was almost palpable and after they quickly thanked him, they scurried off but stopped when he called out to them again.

"And next time I would be a little more careful. Beautiful plan but the execution could use with some work."

The students smirked to themselves and thanked him again before they hurried back to enjoy their dance, thinking how this night was going perfectly.

Kol waited until they were gone before turning his attention back to the closet that his brother and his little blonde distraction were currently stuck in

"Should've never bet against me dear sister-in-law," he said with a mischievous smirk.

Deciding that they could use with a little more bonding time, he resumed his patrolling duties, smiling to himself as he smugly thought that he was going to win this bet against Katherine and his brother much sooner than they all expected.

* * *

"Are you getting any reception now?" Caroline asked a little hopefully more than an hour later, but that hope was immediately squashed when he shook his head. "How has no one noticed that we're missing?"

"It's a pretty hectic night for all the staff," he reasoned.

He truthfully wouldn't have noticed if any of the other staff went missing save for her.

"Well not for you or me since we're stuck in here and missing the whole thing," she grumbled.

"There are worst fates in life," he smirked. "In fact, I consider this a bit of a blessing."

"Getting locked inside a janitor's closet?" she retorted.

"Getting locked inside a janitor's closet with you and getting to miss the chaos that accompanies one of the most overrated nights in high school."

"Prom is not overrated!" she scowled. "I'll have you know it's a great tradition that requires _a lot_ of time and dedication and planning. I forget how much you hate prom," she added with a frown. "Why'd you sign up to be chaperone for this anyway?"

"I was informed they were in need of some more chaperones and I found I had proper incentive this year," he replied with a cheeky grin. "The thought of getting to see how stunning you would look tonight and to have the opportunity to share a dance with you was too much to pass up."

She felt herself blush a little at his words but tried not to make it too obvious.

"You realize you're probably not going to get your dance anymore right?" she pointed out instead. "Once the other staff see us and realize we've been gone they'll probably overload us with stuff to do and will probably make us oversee cleanup duty."

He frowned at that, realizing she had a point so he stood up and extended his hand out to her.

"Might I have the honor to this dance Ms. Forbes?" he asked with a dimpled grin.

"Are you serious?" she asked in surprise but took his hand nonetheless and stood up too.

"Why not?" he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in close than would probably be considered appropriate out on the dance floor where the students were dancing.

"I didn't realize you had such a sweet side Klaus Mikaelson," she teased.

"Only for you," he whispered into her ear, smirking against her skin when he felt her shiver.

There was a part of her that felt self-conscious and a little cheesy dancing in that small closet with him with no music playing and where literally anyone could open up that door at any minute and see, but she moved her body along with his, letting his musky scent envelope her as she let her head rest against his chest. It wasn't long until they fell into a familiar and comfortable rhythm, both dancing along to a song only they could hear.

* * *

"Seriously?" Caroline complained as she tried moving around the small space trying to find a spot where she could get reception on Klaus' phone, standing on some boxes and moving closer to the tiny window in the top corner, hoping that would work.

So far, her attempts had been unsuccessful.

They had lost track of time, easily talking and laughing, and doing a few other things not exactly suitable for young prying eyes the last couple of hours and when they had checked the time again, they realized that the dance was already over.

"They forgot about us, Klaus! Prom's over! We're going to be stuck here all weekend! How are we supposed to eat? Drink? What happens when one of us has to use the bathroom?!" she rambled as she grew increasingly panicked.

"Don't worry, love. There's Saturday school tomorrow so one of the janitors will come in in the morning."

"We have to stay here overnight?!" she practically yelled. "How did no one notice that we're missing and how did the people who locked us in here just forget about us?" she exclaimed.

Little did they know that Kol had come across one of his old paramours volunteering at the check-in and had completely forgotten about them.

"Who does that? Ugh! When I get out of here, I'm not going to stop until I find out who's behind this and when I do…I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm going to do something."

Even though he was feeling extremely irritated himself, it was hard not to chuckle at the scene before him.

"And I will gladly help you," he agreed.

"I just, I know they don't have any bad intentions but this has seriously got to stop," she huffed.

He conceded her point with a small nod. It really was getting out of hand now.

While she continued moving around trying to get reception, he sat there contemplating a few things.

"Maybe we should just tell others about us. Our students would no doubt hear the gossip from the staff, namely Kol and Katherine, and it would get them to stop with their quest to set us up."

"And what exactly would we tell people about us?" she asked a little tentatively.

They were sleeping together and had gone on a couple of dates throughout the last month, but they had never put a label on their relationship. They had also decided, mostly at her request, to keep things between them to give them time and privacy to enjoy their new…whatever it was.

Half the staff was already gossiping about them, mostly because of Kol and Katherine, and she didn't want them to be subjected to all of that extra gossip yet, especially if it turned out one of them didn't want this after all.

He looked at her questioningly, quirking a brow in confusion.

"That we're together," he answered matter-of-factly.

"That we're together," she repeated with a small but happy smile.

He looked at her, seeming to understand why she was saying that and she couldn't stop her smile from growing at the way he blushed a little as he looked away. It was so unlike Klaus to ever be embarrassed or flustered about anything.

"That is, if you'd like us to be," he stated still seemingly embarrassed.

"I'd very much like," she replied teasingly, leaning in and gently sucking on his bottom lip.

His answering smile made her heart skip a beat and she found herself responding with one of her own but before he could duck down his head to kiss her again, she stopped him.

"We still can't tell everyone though," she informed him, making him arch in eyebrow in confusion. "Henrik said that Kol is betting we'll be together by finals and Katherine is betting we'll be together by graduation. We just need to wait until the day after graduation so that Henrik wins."

"You mean, so that _you_ win," he retorted amusedly.

"Hey! I'm splitting the win with both of you too," she exclaimed indignantly, much to his amusement. "And this'll teach Katherine and Kol to try and make money off us."

"If you say so sweetheart," he chuckled before capturing her lips again in a hungry and passionate kiss that quickly chased away any other thoughts from her mind.

She moaned softly into the kiss when he traced her tongue with his own while his hands explored her body, down her back and over her breasts before dropping one hand down to her leg, slowly inching its way down until he reached the hem of her dress.

She ended up being the one to break the kiss, panting against his lips briefly before kissing down the side of his neck while her hands moved up to loosen his tie.

"Is it later, yet?" he asked in a low and husky voice, his eyes dark with a desire that mirrored her own.

She knew they shouldn't, this was their workplace after all, but when she felt his stubble lightly scratching her skin as he pressed open-mouthed kisses against her neck, she couldn't find it in her to care about anything other than the sensation he was provoking and how she wanted more.

"Perhaps," she managed to answer in that same husky voice as her hands finished working on his tie and quickly moved to push his jacket off.

He smirked and pressed another quick kiss against her lips before he began kissing along her neck, down to her collarbone and down to the exposed skin over her breasts.

He then dropped down to his knees in front of her and slowly inched up the skirt of her dress, his lips quickly following his fingers, immensely enjoying the trail of goosebumps that he left in his wake.

"Klaus…"

He hooked his fingers around the waistband of her panties and pulled them down her long silky legs before he looked up at her through his lashes to find her panting heavily and looking down at him, her eyes almost completely black with desire.

"Just relax, love," he said in that low and seductive voice that made her knees go weak pressing a light kiss against both the insides of her thighs and smirking against her skin at the way she softly moaned.

He looked back up at her to see her biting her lip in that sexy way of hers that always drove him crazy.

"And since it's just us, feel free to be as loud as you want."

* * *

The next morning, one of the janitors rubbed his eyes as he tried to finish waking up before he would have to begin on his duties. He yawned into his arm as he fumbled with the keys to one of their supply closets.

No sooner had he opened the door when out came a flustered looking-blonde holding a suit jacket tightly against herself, muttering a quick "good morning Bryan!" before she rushed down the hall to the women's bathroom and behind her came out the curly-haired British teacher all the girls in the school were gaga for.

"Bryan," he greeted with a quick nod and dimpled grin before walking down the hall as well, leaving a bewildered and confused janitor behind.

Did he imagine it or were some of those buttons on his shirt missing?

He scratched his head and chuckled before turning back into the supply closet, pondering what he had just witnessed and laughed when he saw a couple of small white buttons lying on the floor.

"Well I'll be damned," he laughed to himself. "Klaroline is real."


	5. Bliss

Prompt: "Getting slightly too drunk in the middle of the afternoon and slow dancing to dumb cheesy old music and kissing in a way that's more laughter than actual kissing, mouths clumsy and hands gripping tight and sunlight slanting over them as they move lazily together" kc au please :)

xxx

 _Wise men say_  
 _Only fools rush in_  
 _But I can't help falling in love with you_

Caroline stood up with a smile as she recognized the popular song that started playing on her old speakers that miraculously still worked. She walked over to turn up the volume and serve herself another refill of the champagne she had been "sampling" only to realize it was now practically empty.

 _Hm._

Frowning slightly, she set the now empty bottle next to the other two empty ones. Had she and Bonnie really gone through 3 bottles?

She didn't feel like she was drunk or even tipsy…well, _maybe_ a little…

She glanced over at the time. It wasn't even 5 o'clock, not even close, but in her defense, it's not exactly like she woke up this morning deciding to get drunk.

No, she and Bonnie had met up early that day to do some wedding planning, test out some different champagnes. Unfortunately Bonnie had been called to attend to some matters and Caroline had stayed behind, going through more books and sampling a *little* (try almost two bottles) more of the champagne. But she told herself she was nothing if not a dedicated maid of honor and Bonnie deserved nothing but the best at her wedding.

A part of her was disappointed in the change of plans, thinking how now that Bonnie had quit taking her herbs that helped prolong her life, now that she would be aging again and living like all humans, now these moments were numbered. But no, she wouldn't allow herself to think like that yet. They still had time and she was happy for Bonnie, happy that her best friend finally got the life she always deserved and wanted.

 _Shall I stay?_  
 _Would it be a sin_  
 _If I can't help falling in love with you?_

She ran her finger along the rim of her glass with her eyes closed, softly singing along with Elvis Presley's smooth and melodic voice.

She sensed him before she saw him.

Even in her _slightly_ inebriated state, she could tell when he was in the room. She always could. Ever since she first met him all those decades ago.

She felt him behind her before she could even turn and when she felt his hand brush her hair off to the side, she smiled just as she felt him press his lips lightly down the column of her neck.

"Hello, love," she felt him smile against her skin as she leaned back against him.

"Hi," she sighed happily, turning around slowly and looking up at him, taking in the way his berry lips were turned up into a devastating smirk.

Her smile widened as she took him in, bringing up her hand to the side of his face in a gentle caress before leaning in and bringing her lips to his, capturing them in a long and lingering kiss. She wrapped one hand around his neck and used the other to pull down on his necklaces greedily, wanting to feel him closer.

He pulled back after a moment, resting his forehead against hers and looking at her with that dimpled grin that had always been her weakness.

"Hi," she repeated with a breathless smile. "You're home early."

"Hmm, if this the welcome I'll be coming home to every time, I'll be sure to start coming home early more often from now on," he smirked.

"Mm I can get on board with that," she grinned, kissing his chin.

"I take it your day with Bonnie was successful?" he chuckled, taking in the open magazines, snack trays and empty bottles.

"Very," she murmured as she trailed kisses along his jaw.

"I expected to find you two still conspiring."

"She had to take care of some stuff," she shrugged, moving her hands down to the hem of his shirt, smirking at the way his muscles tensed under her fingers as she trailed her fingers up and down in slow and deliberate movements before moving them down to his belt buckle.

"If I didn't know any better sweetheart, I'd say you were trying to seduce me," he smirked.

The mischievous but heated look in her eyes was the only answer he needed.

"Do or do not. There is no try," she giggled, nipping at the skin under his jaw while her hands moved to his buckle.

She frowned when his hands suddenly covered hers and stopped her.

"Are you drunk, love?" he asked with a trace of amusement in his voice that matched the subtle mirth she could see in his eyes behind his obvious desire.

"If I say _maybe_ will you still give me an orgasm?"

He smirked as he entwined their hands before he leaned in, capturing her lips in a slow and sensual kiss that made her head spin. Or maybe that was in part thanks to the bottles of champagne.

"As many as you like," he promised against her lips. "But later."

He chuckled, kissing those pouty lips again fleetingly before pulling back.

"Don't pout sweetheart, I always keep my promises. Time is never an issue. Wouldn't you agree?"

Her mind went back to one very specific promise he made her once, decades ago on that football field and she looked up and met those same blue eyes that had looked at her then much like they were now, and she smiled softly as she tightened her hold on his hand.

"Yes, I suppose you do."

He smiled, the simple act lighting up his entire face even more and she greedily drank him in, wanting to commit that image to her memory forever.

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against him, wanting to revel in that little moment for as long as she could and judging by the way he wrapped one arm around her, his thumb drawing small and soothing circles through her shirt, he was in no hurry to pull away either.

She realized the music was still playing in the background, and she grinned as she started slowly swaying to the new cheesy love song that was now on.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" he chuckled, his warm breath mixing in with her hair.

"Just shut up and dance with me," she responded without bothering to move her head.

"So bossy," he responded but she could hear the teasing lilt in his voice and she smiled as he started to slowly sway with her.

"You didn't seem to mind last night," she smiled coyly and she felt his chest vibrate with a laugh.

"Hmm no can't say that I did," he conceded and she smirked smugly.

They both fell into a comfortable silence for a while, and she smiled to herself, thinking how this was definitely not in her plans for today.

She almost laughed thinking about the first time he stepped into her room on her 18th birthday and how she never could have planned to be here like this with him, almost 100 years old, _slightly_ tipsy and slow-dancing with him in the middle of the afternoon after spending the morning helping her childhood best friend pick out wedding dresses and color schemes.

"What are you thinking?"

She looked up at him to find him watching her with that same look she would never tire of and she smiled softly.

No, there was no planning for any of this but there had been no planning for the man who promised to be her last love ever since the moment he stepped into her room that night, talking about the world out there waiting for her.

She shook her head slightly, her smile widening as she pressed her lips clumsily against his, prompting him to chuckle as he muttered something about cutting her off from the champagne for the rest of the day and she just giggled against his lips, relishing in his amused grin and the sound of his laugh mixing in with hers as she pressed another quick kiss against his lips. And another.

She knew things weren't perfect. They never were and probably never would be. There were still threats looming over them (such was the life of being a Mikaelson or being involved with them), spats that needed resolving, matters that needed attending, more obstacles to overcome, but for now, in that moment, she knew only one thing.

 _Bliss._


	6. Little Moments In Their Eternity

**NSFW so if you don't like that, might want to skip this one. Basically all fluff and smut. :)**

 **xxx**

Caroline woke up slowly wrapped in his scent, feeling the warmth of the early morning sun rays on her back through the thin Henley she had slipped into when she had gotten up at some point in the early hours.

She shifted onto her side with a soft sigh and was surprised to see Klaus appeared to still be asleep beside her. He was lying on his stomach, the deep blue sheets lying dangerously low on his hips and giving her ample view of his broad back. His head was turned away from her but his even breathing let her know he was still sleeping.

It wasn't often that she woke up before him. She often teased him about whether he ever slept or just creepily stared at everyone else while they did. During the few instances that she would wake up before he did, he would usually wake up almost immediately once she shifted, almost like he had a sixth sense attuned to when she moved. Something else she would tease him about.

But today he remained sound asleep and she smirked, thinking to herself she could see why considering their late night activities, losing track of how many times they'd taken each other and the number of mind-blowing orgasms.

 _I think that's a new record for us._

She bit her lip, watching the sleeping hybrid, a part of her wanting to wake him so they could do it all over again.

But she refrained, wanting to enjoy this moment where she could take him in while he slept for a change.

She let her eyes roam over him, starting from those messy curls that she had ran her fingers through repeatedly (and they certainly showed it too), and let her gaze wander on down his back.

Her scratches from last night were long since healed, the only markings on his back being the triangle tattoo and the few small and scattered moles.

She moved closer to him, careful to try and not wake him, smiling in relief when he didn't stir and lightly traced over the tattoo with the lightest of touches before letting her hand wander.

She traced an invisible path connecting the small and sometimes even barely visible moles, fascinated to find one by his shoulder that she didn't think she'd noticed before.

She thought she knew his body as well as her own by now. She had long since accepted that he was hers as much as she was his and she had left no inch of him untouched but clearly, there were still new things to find and she loved it.

She pressed a feathery light kiss there before moving her hand up to trace over the thin necklaces he usually wore and that she secretly (okay maybe not so secretly anymore) loved so much and she pressed a light kiss there too, lingering for a moment as she just breathed in his musky scent that she had come to associate with home.

She smiled to herself thinking how she loved his scent. It was probably why she stole one of his jackets or his shirts and slept in one of them every chance she got, something he loved to tease _her_ about.

"What are you doing, love?" she heard his raspy voice say and even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was smiling.

She laughed lightly into his skin and kissed the back of his neck, breathing in his musky scent mixed with the body wash he had used last night during their shower.

"You smell good," she breathed out against his skin.

There was a split second of silence before she heard him laugh.

A genuine laugh and it put a smile on her face and made her heart swell, both at the sound and knowing she was the cause for it. She usually was, a fact that thrilled her even after all this time.

She pulled back as he turned around to look at her, the boyish grin she loved so much on his face.

She almost laughed, thinking how perfectly innocent and even angelic he looked in that moment when he was everything but.

But watching him in that moment, with that dimpled grin and mirth and happiness dancing in his eyes as he looked at her, it was almost hard to remember.

He reached out for her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her so close she was practically straddling him and reached up to kiss her.

"You got dressed," he murmured with a pout as his hand skimmed over the hem of his Henley.

She chuckled, musing how the evil original hybrid could actually remind her of a five year-old child sometimes.

"I got up and didn't want to wander around naked," she answered. "And then it smelled too good to take it off," she shrugged.

He chuckled and looked up at her with that look. That look that said he was so fucking _happy_ and she found herself crashing her lips against his in a hungry, desperate kiss, wanting to convey to him she felt that happiness too.

If he was confused or surprised, he certainly didn't say anything. Instead he drew her closer and responded to her kiss with as much fervor, his hands running up and down along her bare thighs, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

She pulled back after a moment and looked down at him, feeling a familiar heat low in her stomach as she watched him looking up at her through dark and hooded eyes.

She had never felt so lusted after before him. Even after all this time, he still looked at her like he did the first time. Like he would never get enough of her.

She ran the palms of her hands up his torso and over the smooth planes of his chest, up all the way to his feather tattoo, making a path for her lips to follow.

She felt his hands land on her hips and back down her thighs and by the way he would tighten his grip every so often, she knew he was trying to hold back. Being submissive wasn't exactly part of his nature, but she also knew that he quite enjoyed watching her be in control before he returned the favor.

She smirked against his skin when she felt, more than heard his small groan when she nipped at a sensitive spot on his neck she had long ago discovered, before darting her tongue out to taste it.

She continued her little ministrations for a moment longer before pulling back and looking down at him as she reached for the hem of his shirt, never taking her gaze off him as she pulled it over her head and discarded it off to the side.

His eyes greedily drank her in like he was trying to commit the sight of her like this to memory, his hands immediately tracing over her hips, up her stomach and stopping to cup her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her nipples until they hardened and she closed her eyes with a soft moan, letting herself relish in his touch and the sensations it stirred inside of her.

He sat up then, and placed a light and almost deceptively innocent kiss on one of them before sucking it into his mouth.

Her head fell back with another moan and next thing she felt was the mattress against her back and looked down to see Klaus kissing back down her stomach, over her hip before settling his head between her thighs.

Her hands gripped at the warm sheets below her before settling back in his hair when she felt his tongue against her aching nub.

Soon, she became an unable to form a coherent thought or phrase outside of his name as he soon inserted a finger and continued building her towards that brink of pleasure until she finally came with a loud cry and his name on her lips.

He looked up at her with a devilish grin that could drive her crazy (and not always in a good way) before moving back up her body.

She barely gave him a chance to react before she was pulling down on his necklaces, crashing her lips against his fervently, softly moaning when his tongue slid against hers so she could taste herself on him.

She flipped them over suddenly, proud of herself for taking him off guard and under any other circumstance she would've made some type of witty comment but right now all she could think of was how she needed him inside of her and judging by the way he was looking at her when she pulled back, he felt the same way.

Giving into his desire and hers, she positioned him at her entrance and slowly sank down on his awaiting length, both of them groaning at the feeling as she took him in.

She rose up and sank back down, stifling a whimper at how amazing he felt. She did it again, setting a steady rhythm and arched into him when he brought up his hand to her breasts again before following with his lips and tongue.

He settled his other hand on her hip as his own hips met hers enthusiastically. His lips crashed against hers again and soon she found herself lying on the mattress again but she couldn't find it in her to protest, not when he kept moving inside her the way he was. Not when this new angle had him hitting a particularly sensitive spot that had her crying out and begging for more.

She wrapped her legs around him, holding him as close to her as possible, her nails raking into his back again she felt that familiar pressure building inside of her until she was throwing her head back with a loud sob as she reached a new high, her toes curling with the intensity of her latest orgasm.

He kept moving as she came down from her high until he finally succumbed to his own release, her own name on his lips as he buried his head into the crook of her neck while she wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her tightly.

For a few moments, neither one made any attempts to move as they recovered, both relishing in their post-coital bliss.

She lightly ran her fingers through his curls while he placed a few kisses along the crook of her neck and collarbone until he pulled back and brought his lips to hers for a sweet and lingering kiss.

He moved off her, much to her displeasure, but then he was lying down and tucking her into him and she happily obliged him.

She caught sight of his discarded Henley that was now lying at the foot of the bed and she considered moving to put it on again but then she felt him tighten his arm around her, almost as if he were reading her thoughts.

She smiled as she snuggled into him and breathed in his intoxicating scent she loved so much and she supposed, she could go without the Henley for now.


	7. Stay

Caroline closes her eyes for a brief moment, almost as if needing the time to get herself to do what she knew she needed to do.

This isn't the first time they're doing this but she knows. Tonight is different.

It had been different since before they made into his bed. It had been since she'd let him in in a way she hadn't let anyone else in in a really long time. So long, she'd forgotten what it was like to bear your soul like that to someone.

She sits up, ignoring his stare she can feel on her.

He always watches her and every time, he sits quietly and watches her leave, always waiting until the next time, but she knows. Tonight he won't just watch her leave. Tonight is different.

It was a dangerous game she had been playing, she knew it from the start but somehow she had allowed herself to believe that she was always in control of the situation. That she could do this without getting caught up.

Tonight had proven otherwise.

Tonight she had broken her carefully constructed rules. Rules she already had a hard time following for weeks now but tonight she had. She had broken everything that made this nothing more than an arrangement of sorts that she had tried convincing herself was all this was.

She thinks about all the times they've done this, the desperation with which they'd take each other, to feel skin on skin, but tonight, it was a different type of desperation it had her choking back a sob.

Tonight had proven what she had suspected for a while now.

She feels the pads of his fingers tracing along the column of her spine and even though it's no secret to him anymore that she desires him, she still fights back the shudder threatening at his touch.

She was always so responsive to his every touch. She always had been and deep down, she knows she always will be.

"Leaving already, love?"

She feels him move closer so she can feel his warm chest against her bare back and feels his lips press lightly against her shoulder.

It's a simple gesture he's done many times in the past but tonight it doesn't feel the same and she knows. Tonight is different.

She felt it in the way his eyes drank her in. She felt it in his touch that was everywhere. Over her. Around her. In her. She felt it in the way he kissed her…the way she kissed him. She felt it in the way his lips skimmed almost devastatingly slowly over every inch of her body, as if in a silent worship. She felt it in the slow pace he set, the way they kept their eyes locked on each other until she threw her head back with a loud cry, only able to focus on the blinding pleasure as she finally found her release.

Tonight was different.

Tonight there was something intimate about it. More intimate than any other time they've been together. She felt it then. She feels it now.

Still, she allows herself to try and pretend even if only for a little bit longer, that everything hadn't just changed since she first sought him out earlier that evening.

"It's getting late," she says, hoping her voice betrays nothing of what she's feeling inside.

She stifles a soft gasp and involuntarily closes her eyes when she feels him drop feathery light kisses along her shoulder, working his way towards her neck.

"Is this your way of telling me you'd like to go for another round?" she tries to joke but it comes out breathless as she feels him lightly bite down on her sensitive skin at the same time she feels one arm wrap around her, his hand coming up to cup her breast.

She expects some kind of cheeky response from him but instead he says nothing and continues kissing his way up her jaw while his fingers expertly tease her pert nipple and her body arches up into his touch. She's already aching for more of him despite having just had him and despite that part of her brain telling her she should stop and leave just like every other night they did this.

But tonight is different.

He continues his ministrations, her body like a favorite book he's memorized cover to cover.

"Klaus…"

She pants his name when she feels him slide a finger along her slit.

She turns her head, no longer able to sit idly by, and crashes her lips against his in a hungry kiss that he immediately returns as he eases her back onto the bed.

As her head hits the pillow, that desperation seems to vanish as he kisses her slow but deep, swallowing every sound he knows how to coax out of her. It's not the kiss of two individuals seeking only release, but a slow worship between two lovers.

His hands slowly resume their exploration with a heartbreaking gentleness that reflects the way he's kissing her and despite the fact that she can feel him hard against her, he continues his leisurely pace as if they had all the time in the world. As if they had eternity.

"Stay," he pants into her mouth in a voice barely above a whisper as his hand palms her breast.

She hears the quiet plea in his tone, feels it in his every touch. Feels it with every kiss on her lips. Her jaw. Her neck.

 _Stay._

It's so different from the only other time he'd asked her years ago.

 _"I'd really liked it you stayed."_

That had been an invitation to stay in his city, to give him a chance to show her one of his favorite places in the world.

This was different.

He pulls back and rests his forehead against hers and when he opens his eyes to meet hers, she sees the plea in them too and can almost hear the other two words he hasn't said out loud.

 _With me._

For a long moment, the only sounds that fill the room are the sounds of their panted breathing.

His eyes bore into hers and she stares right back, her heart feeling overwhelmed by all she finds in his gaze.

He's over a thousand years old and the most powerful creature on the planet, yet she's never seen him more vulnerable than in that moment as he keeps his eyes on hers. As he gently traces the curve of her jaw with his thumb.

 _Stay with me._

She thinks about how open she had been with him earlier, how vulnerable and exposed and she realizes now he's doing the same.

She had always been so terrified of being so open with anyone because what would their response be? What if they didn't like that they saw?

But here he was and this was his response.

 _Stay._

She thinks about why she had even let him in the way she had and she knows it's for the reason she's suspected for some time now.

She brings up a hand to cup his face and almost cries at the look on his face. Like he's steeling himself for rejection. To be told he's not enough once again.

He moves back as she sits up but she never takes her eyes off him nor he off of her. Even as she guides him back and moves on top of him so she's straddling him.

She leans closer to cup his face with both hands and looks down at him.

The original who had once been her enemy and somehow became her friend and years later would become her casual lover. And now…

She looks at him and gives him a soft but warm smile meant only for him and she catches a flicker of emotion in his eyes that makes her heart clench right before she leans in the rest of the way and presses her lips against his.

She kisses him exactly like he'd kissed her. Slow, gentle, deep. A declaration, a promise spoken with every lick, with every touch.

She's kissed him hundreds of times throughout the years but tonight is different.

She kisses him like they have all the time in the world, an eternity because for the first time since this started, since he walked into her room, she accepts that they do.

She feels his hands start to roam over her body again and even though he lets her take the lead for a while, she knows exactly what he wants and bites his lip with a laugh as she stops him from flipping them over.

He growls but she pins him with a defiant look and watches as he relents with a devastating but dimpled smile and a challenging look in his eyes.

Do your worst, sweetheart.

She smirks and runs her hands down his torso, lightly scratching over his abs and delighting in his shudder that she feels.

She gives him a look too, one that tells him she has plans for him tonight and watches as his smile grows impossibly wider.

Still, despite the lust-filled look he's giving her and she can feel how desperately hard he is against her letting her know he's more than ready for her, she sees something else in his eyes. Feels it in the way his hand lightly strokes up and down her bare thigh.

She looks at him and knows he needs to hear her say it.

She looks down at the original who had waited for her for so many years and still was. Because while she had known this for some time now, tonight had proven he didn't simply want her body. He wanted all of her. Broken pieces and all.

 _Stay._

So she leans in and captures his lips again and just like he did, she whispers her response into his mouth.

 _"Always."_

xxx

Years turned into decades and decades slipped centuries and the world changes around them but morning light always finds them the same.

 _Together._


	8. Their Morning Routine

PROMPT: KLAROLINE SHARING A BED. LOTS OF FLUFF PLEASE?

xxx

Klaus rouses from his sleep when he feels something jab into his side.

He'd normally be more alert and perhaps angry by anything rousing him from his sleep this way but this was not a first time occurrence for him.

In fact, this has become a rather common occurrence over the last several months.

He slowly opens his eyes and looks down at the heap of unruly blonde curls hiding the face of the sleeping vampire using him as a pillow.

He smirks at the sight and can't help himself from reaching out and tucking a few strands of hair back.

She keeps her eyes closed but scrunches her nose and buries her face into the crook of his neck while he watches the whole thing with a smile.

He had been all too amused to discover that contrary to popular belief, Caroline was _not_ a morning person. It was always a struggle to get her out of bed before 9 am but oh how delighted in trying and learning new ways to coax her to wake up. He would say to coax her out of bed but… usually what he did resulted in them hanging around bed just a little while longer…

Usually he lets her sleep longer before he starts coaxing her to open those blue eyes he knows better than his own, letting himself revel in those moments of blissful silence and the feel of her body pressed against his but today… today he's eager to start his day with her.

He's missed her.

She'd been gone for almost a month visiting Bonnie and while he talked to Caroline regularly, their late night phone conversations being one of the things he found himself looking forward to every day that she was away, his bed had never felt bigger.

Perhaps it was because every morning, no matter what position, how big or where in the bed she fell asleep or how hot and humid the night was, every morning he would wake up to the blonde using him as a pillow.

So every day he'd woken up feeling like something was off. Like something was missing. He's gotten so used to being woken up by the feel of her hair tickling his nose as she curls up into him, the jab of her knee or elbow against his side or leg, the feel of her legs tangling with his…he's gotten so used to it, it felt almost wrong without it. He missed it.

He missed her.

And how he delighted in showing her _exactly_ how much when she finally returned the previous day.

He smirks as he recalls all the things they did, all the noises and screams he coaxed out of her. They hadn't left the room they now shared since early afternoon when he'd finished his shower and found her sitting on the bed with that smile he'd missed terribly.

It was ever a wonder he managed to survive all those years without her after she entered his life.

But that doesn't matter anymore. She's here now (not just from her recent trip) and he had every intention of convincing her to stay by his side. Forever, if he had his way.

He looks down at the blonde peacefully sleeping and smiles as he pushes back more strands of hair covering her face with one hand and slowly pulling down the duvet covering her. She in turn responds by murmuring something unintelligible and pressing herself closer to him, as if her body is seeking that warmth he's peeling away as he removes the duvet.

The feel of her body pressed so closely to his own is distractingly tempting but he forces himself to focus for a little while longer.

Their morning routine had become one of their things after all and he's missed it.

Besides, foreplay was vastly underrated and he certainly enjoyed it more than ever with his blonde vixen.

With the hand that he'd been using to pull away the duvet, he traces an invisible pattern up along the length of her spine, reveling in the feel of the soft bare skin beneath his fingertips.

The corners of his lips quirk up as he hears her sigh softly but still refuses to open her eyes.

He continues tracing a pattern higher, moving from her back to trace along her shoulder before doubling back and moving higher still. He lightly traces along the column of her neck, lingering on that sensitive spot he was too happy to discover.

He feels her shift against him and has to bite back a groan as her breasts rub against him but then he hears her mutter his name and he smiles.

He knows it won't be long know.

He continues his little ministrations as he shifts them so he's now hovering over her enough to give him better access to the glorious blonde in his arms.

His smile grows at her unhappy grumble at the space now between them, but he quickly rectifies that by dipping his head and lightly kissing his way down.

He starts with a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering slightly before moving lower and pressing another light kiss to each of her eyelids, her cheeks, the tip of her nose and then bypasses her lips completely and moves down to her chin. He smiles against her skin as he hears her sigh contentedly as he kisses a trail along the curve of her jaw.

He feels one of her hands come up and tangle itself in his hair and he almost sighs in contentment too when she gently runs her fingers through his sleep-mussed curls.

He lifts his gaze to find her soft blue eyes peering down at him and the way she's looking at him is his favorite part about starting his day with her.

He feels that rush of excitement and happiness that he felt that first morning when he woke up to her still in his arms, when he coaxed her out of sleep and saw her open her eyes and look at him the way she is now.

It's his favorite part about starting his day with her.

He leans in and kisses her, slowly coaxing her lips open and lazily sliding his tongue along hers the same way he slowly traces her smooth curves while she wraps her arm around his neck to hold him closer. There's nothing rushed about any of their movements, both perfectly content to enjoy this quiet moment and each other.

He feels her smile against his lips and he feels his own curl up too as he pulls back and rests his forehead against hers.

"Good morning, my love," he murmurs with a dimpled grin that grows when he hears her light laugh.

"Good morning," she smiles lazily as she continues running her fingers through his curls. "How are you always awake before me?"

He smirks and resumes kissing along her jaw.

"You're not like Edward from _Twilight_ are you?" she teases, laughing when he lifts his head and quirks a brow, the reference clearly lost on him. "Oh that's right, you're like a billion and aren't up to speed on pop culture."

She laughs again when he nips at her skin with his blunt teeth.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. And funny enough, I didn't hear you complaining about my old age last night," he murmurs huskily as he soothes the sting with his tongue.

"Always so cocky," she huffs out a laugh causing him to look up at her with a sinful smirk.

She rolls her eyes amusedly but still pushes back some of his curls in an affectionate manner that is so intimate, it would have had him recoiling once and truth be told, it was still somewhat of an effort not to.

But when she's looking at him the way she is…

Almost like she senses his thoughts, she lifts her head enough to press her lips softly against his.

When she lies back, she's smiling in that way that's impossible for him not to return it.

"But seriously, how are you always up so early? Is it like an old age thing?" she teases again.

He smirks and playfully nips at her skin again.

"Perhaps it's a Caroline thing," he teases as he looks up at her, smiling at her confused look. "Perhaps it's your snoring that keeps me from sleep."

She scoffs and playfully slaps his arm.

"I don't snore!" she protests.

He smiles wickedly and kisses the underside of her jaw.

"Oh but you do my love," he teases.

"I do not!" she argues indignantly.

"I had no idea you were capable of such sounds. I'm sure everyone in the compound heard you."

"Shut up!" she says laughingly as she pushes him back and settles over him, her laughing eyes meeting his own. "I do _not_ snore."

He laughs and settles his hands on her waist as she straddles him, rubbing soothing circles on the soft skin there.

"Admit I don't snore," she says in that authoritative voice he's heard her use with the newly turned vampires she was teaching.

Although he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a stab of arousal shoot through him, his thoughts drift to what Caroline had dedicated herself to recently.

As always, she continued to surprise him but when she had taken it upon herself to teach others to not only adjust to their lives as vampires, but to thrive as well as she had learned to do in the decades since she had been turned, he had would occasionally drop by their "lessons" and watched on with pride and respect that grew with every passing day. To see her embrace her vampirism in ways he had never fathomed… It was a good thing she rarely paid attention to him when she was focused on teaching these baby vampires for if she did, she would surely see him falling even more in love with her.

"What's that look for?" she wonders as she looks down at him and he smiles, realizes his mind's wandered.

"You're stunning Caroline Forbes," he answers and is pleased to see the soft smile that graces her face in answer.

"If you mean to distract me with your flattery after you falsely accuse me of snoring, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed," she says teasingly and he feels his smile widen.

"Not flattery but merely the truth my love," he says as he starts to sit up with a devious mirth dancing in his eyes as he lightly runs his hand up her bare back in a gentle caress. "And as for the other matter, _I'm_ afraid I'll have to take that as a challenge."

She smirks and he's delighted to see the playful fire spark in her eyes. His queen rising to the challenge. Just as she always did.

She glances at the time, seems to decide she has enough time before she's meeting with the baby vampires.

"Very well then…" she says in a low voice.

She pushes him back down against the pillows and hovers over him so the tips of her breasts brush against his chest in a tantalizing manner, it's every effort not to pull her closer, to fully feel her skin against his.

She kisses a trail up his neck before dragging her teeth over the same skin in a taunting manner and then kissing her way up his jaw and stopping at his ear.

"We have about two hours before I need to get ready to meet Charlie and the others," she murmurs as she nips at his earlobe. "Let's see if you really are up to the challenge until then."

He smiles and waits until she pulls back to flip them over and switch their positions.

He slowly drags his eyes down her bare body beneath him, feeling himself grow achingly hard as he thinks of all the different ways he wants to ravish her.

He sees her swallow and smirks as he finally returns his gaze to meet her own lust-blown one.

"As my lady wishes," he says in a low and seductive tone, a promise of all that's to come.

xxx

As it turns out, they don't leave the bed for almost three hours and maybe she's running a little late but she gets him to finally concede that she does in fact _not_ snore.

She leaves him feeling pleasantly sore and with a promise to see him tonight and a lingering kiss.

She also leaves him with a smile that lingers on his face even after she's gone and he's getting ready to attend to his own duties.

A smile that grows as he happily plots out new ways he'll coax the stunning blonde awake the following morning.


	9. Infinite

**This was for the Klaroline Winter Wonderland exchange. Basically just a whole lot of fluff and sort of smut towards the start.**

 **Happy New Year everyone! :)**

* * *

Klaus sighs sleepily into his pillow and shifts onto his side, blindly reaching out but is surprised to feel only the cool sheets beside him instead of a certain blonde beauty he expected to find.

Furrowing his brows, he opens his eyes and sees the empty spot beside him where Caroline's sleeping form should be lying instead.

For the past few days he's gotten used to waking up alone in the mornings and although he didn't like it, it wasn't ever in the middle of the night like this.

He sits up but he doesn't have long to wonder about her whereabouts when he hears the sounds coming from the kitchen.

He glances at the ancient clock in the room and takes note of the time before sitting up and throwing on the sweatpants she had carelessly discarded earlier when their hands had been busy wandering and undressing one another after he'd effectively distracted her from all of her planning, something he was certain his minions were more than grateful for after she'd spent the better part of the day ordering them around, making sure every decoration was precisely to her specifications, according to her carefully drawn out and color coded map which they'd all been given a copy of.

He remembers taking a moment to watch her from the balcony after his meeting with Marcel, watching her giving those orders and silencing some of his minions with a single glare. Even now he couldn't stop the smile that spread on his lips thinking of it.

 _A queen indeed._

Even Marcel had joked with the blonde on his way out that Klaus was starting to rub off on her something which had made him laugh, especially when she joked that maybe she was the one to rub off on his sire.

 _If only she knew._

He makes his way down to the large kitchen where he now finds her working with a mixing bowl, a whole array of other ingredients and pastries spread out over the large marble counter that it's hard to find an empty spot on it.

She doesn't seem to notice him, so preoccupied with the bowl in front of her and it's the first tell for Klaus that something is on her mind. She's grown to be incredibly aware of her surroundings, so much so that even he has a hard time sneaking up on her.

He knows it has to do with the dinner with his family and the party they're hosting right after the next evening to celebrate the New Year. He's noticed she's been more distracted than usual since they got back from their little Christmas retreat to one of his cabins in Switzerland. It was their first Christmas together as a couple and he'd set out to make it a memorable one for her but of course, as a major Christmas enthusiast herself, she wasn't about to stand back and let him do all the work and romancing. It still amazed him, she still amazed him, but somewhere between bickering over literally cutting a tree down, playfully arguing and flirting while decorating said tree, exchanging sometimes playful and sometimes heated kisses between impromptu snowball fights or simply lounging around on the couch or in bed, wrapped up in each other, somehow during those 3 blissful weeks, she'd made an old holiday that had grown to be mundane at best for him, seem entirely new.

They'd both returned with matching goofy smiles that Marcel had laughed at, and couldn't resist commenting to them both that they should go away together more often, giving them both a knowing look that had made Caroline blush even as she rolled her eyes at the other vampire.

But it seemed that Christmas glow was short lived for the blonde who almost immediately threw herself into the party planning and overseeing every single detail.

Not that he was entirely innocent. He'd done his fair share of micromanaging, even getting into _mostly_ playful arguments with the spirited blonde, but eventually everything had gotten done that needed to be and he'd thought that now they could relax. Preferably together.

But apparently he was wrong.

He quietly comes up behind her and wraps an arm around her waist, feeling her stiffen for a split second before he feels her relax and lean back into him when he moves the curtain of her hair and dips his head down, pressing a soft kiss to the crook of her neck and drawing out a soft sigh from the blonde.

"Craving a bit of a midnight snack, love?" he murmurs teasingly. "What's all this?"

"I forgot I promised Marcel earlier that I'd have his favorite dessert for the dinner tomorrow or technically, tonight I guess, because _someone_ distracted me earlier," she responds, shooting him a playful glare before turning back to her work. "I'm probably not going to have time to do it later because I have to finish overseeing the setup, make sure that all the food is delivered and that it's right, that the dessert table is set up correctly, oversee everything with the band and make sure that somebody remembers to get your family from the airport-"

He can both hear and feel her getting more stressed out by the second so he drops another kiss along her neck and starts rubbing soothing circles through the thin material of her - _his_ \- shirt that she'd thrown on, and feels her lean back into his touch again.

"Sweetheart, you know that you don't have to take care of this all on your own don't you?"

"Yeah, I know that you have minions to take care of this sort of thing," she snorts and he smiles against her skin.

"Yes, but I was actually referring to myself in this situation," he smirks continuing to leave a trail of soft kisses along her jaw and down to her collar bone while one of his hands continues it's soothing motion while the other dips under the hem of the shirt she'd long ago stolen, tracing along the soft skin he finds there, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake.

She hums in appreciation and tilts her head to the side to give him better access.

"I can oversee the last details of the setup for the party while you're occupied with dinner and I already have people set to pick up my family," he murmurs. "I've already delivered a copy of your meticulous map of the layout to the bakery and caterers so they're aware of where everything goes, and I've ensured that the band will be here at 7:00 to give them plenty of time to set up before the first guests arrive."

"Thank you," she sighs, her breath hitching when the tips of his fingers reach her breasts start to tease her rosy nipples. "And FYI, I find you incredibly sexy when you go into planning mode like this."

He chuckles and nips at the sensitive skin below her jaw.

"I know," he smirks, cupping her breast before she has the chance to retort anything. "Now, you still seem a little stressed love. Perhaps I can help out with that too?"

"I bet you could," she huffs out a laugh.

He grins but continues his ministrations, teasing her with his lips while his hand alternates between one breast and the other, leaving her aching and wanting for more, and he catalogues every little hitch in her breath, every soft moan.

As he dips his other hand beneath the waistband of her small shorts, he hums appreciatively against her skin when he finds she's wearing nothing underneath.

"You're very distracting you know," she laughs a little breathlessly as he _very_ slowly traces along the soft and increasingly aching skin there while continuing his other ministrations.

"Am I?" he chuckles. "I was about to say the same about you, love."

"You're the one who's distracting me while I'm trying to work," she points out. " _Both_ times tonight."

"My apologies," he smiles against her skin, sounding completely unrepentant.

He drags his lips up to the shell of her ear, sucking lightly on the lobe.

"I can stop if you want me to," he murmurs huskily against her ear while he continues teasing the sensitive skin on the inside of her thighs. "Let you get back to work…"

When she doesn't answer, he finally brings his hand to the aching flesh between her thighs, unable to help the groan that escapes him when he feels how wet she is and the sound of her soft whimper at the small contact is almost enough to make his control snap.

He'd felt himself start to harden for her as soon as he saw her standing in his henley, and by this point, he's incredibly hard it's almost painful, and by the way she bucks into his hand and her panted breathing, he can tell she's as ready for him as he is for her but he needs to hear her say it.

"Caroline?" he says her name in a low voice as he begins a new trail with his lips down her jaw.

"What?" she asks breathlessly and maybe the sound is a touch frustrated as he evades touching her where she really wants.

"You never answered me, love," he smirks, getting a touch too smug and he knows she's going to make him pay for it later but he can't help but think right now, it's more than worth it as he continues teasing her as he cups her throbbing center.

When she bucks into his hand again with a soft moan and again doesn't answer, he starts to withdraw his hand when her hand stops him, her fingers digging into his skin as she shakes her head and turns to glare at him.

"Don't you dare stop."

The fiery look in her eyes coupled with her words are what finally snap what little control he had around her to begin with, and he lets out a growl that almost sounds feral, crashing his lips to hers at the same time that he sinks two fingers into her, almost smiling at the cry that escapes her and that he readily swallows as his tongue delves past her lips and into her mouth. She easily meets him stroke for stroke and their kiss grows more frantic and almost desperate as she rides his fingers.

His other hand continues palming her breasts and tweaking her hardened nipples while he continues pumping his fingers in and out of her and he pushes her closer to that release she's desperately seeking now, her fingernails biting into his skin strong enough that he thinks he smells blood and it draws out another groan of pleasure from him.

Deciding that he's teased her enough, he curls his fingers to hit that aching bundle of nerves just perfectly and she moans into his mouth as she feels him deliciously rubbing against her clit.

He breaks the kiss to take in the vampire in his arms, always loving to see her when she's in the throes of passion like this, and he knows she's ready to let go.

"Come for me, my love," he breathes against her swollen lips while his hands keep working her and push her to that edge.

He feels her grip around his arm tighten as she drops her head back against him with a loud cry that reverberates around the kitchen as her whole body shakes against him and it's only his arms around her that keep her upright.

He drops a few light kisses along the column of her neck as she comes down from her high.

"Feeling better?" he asks and is rewarded with the sound of her laugh as she turns around to face him and he's pleased to note the content and sated smile lighting up her face.

"Yes," she laughs again as she pecks his lips lightly before pulling back and looking down at the obvious bulge in his pants and then looking back at him with a quirked brow and he can see her eyes have grown a little darker. "Well, one of is. Perhaps we should take care of you too," she adds with a sly grin.

He smirks and draws the tips of his fingers coated in her juices into his mouth, watching with a wicked smile as her eyes darken further and then he steals a quick kiss but pulls back before she can deepen it and smiles at her whine of protest.

"There will be time for that later," he smirks, drawing soothing circles on the small of her back. "But first, do you want to tell me what's been on your mind?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been distracted and a little on edge this week since we got back…" he starts and feels her stiffen almost imperceptibly and it's enough to confirm his suspicions. "What's bothering you, Caroline? It's not just the party is it?"

The whole week he had noticed that something was off but when he tried to approach her she had chalked it up to the party planning and while he suspected there was more to it, he decided he would wait for her to come to him with it, tried taking a page of her relationship book so to speak but now he was starting to grow concerned. Perhaps there was something he didn't know about? Maybe she was no longer happy being here with him?

"Whatever you're thinking right now, stop," she says gently but firmly, cupping the side of his face to get him to look at her again and he wonders when he became so easy to read.

Or maybe it's only her that can read him as easily as he can her.

"I'm happy. _You_ make me happy," she assures him and he desperately searches her eyes for any sign of deception and almost breathes out in relief when he finds none. "I'm happier than I've been in a really long time actually…"

Something about her tone makes him arch a brow but she doesn't continue.

"And I'm sensing that's a problem because?" he probes lightly.

"Because if my own history has taught me anything, it's that this is the time where the other shoe drops," she sighs, sounding almost defeated and it's so unlike her, it takes him by surprise. "This is the time where horrible things start to happen. It's always when you have something to lose. And all I can keep thinking is what if someone shows up at the party tomorrow and blow us half to hell or what if at dinner tomorrow your family hates me-"

"Sweetheart, I think you're forgetting that my family's already met you."

"Yes, but they don't _know_ me," she argues. "Not really. Rebekah would be the closest one and she wasn't exactly president of the Caroline Forbes fanclub. And that's kind of my point. The rest of your family knows _of_ me. They know I'm the baby vampire you fancied or whatever in Mystic Falls, they know I'm the girl you gave romantic drawings to and dresses that creepily fit her exact measurements," she continues, ignoring the way he quirks a brow at that last statement but allows her to continue. "And they know me as the girl that could talk some sense into your melodramatic ass."

He laughs at this last part and wants to argue but decides to close his mouth and let her finish instead.

"But they don't know me as your girlfriend...partner…" she scrunches her nose. "Whatever label you want to call me, yet."

He sighs and wraps his arms around her waist, tugging her close to him again, pressing a light kiss to her forehead before looking down at her and meeting her gaze.

"Caroline, I love that you care about all the little things, it's one of your many qualities that I've always admired, but in this case, I think you're worried over nothing, love," he starts, and he can see that she wants to argue but waits for him to continue. "My family may not have spent a lot of time with you, no, but that doesn't mean they don't know parts of you. They know you're incredibly loyal. Strong. Smart. A leader. That you have excellent taste obviously," he smirks and laughs when she swats his chest playfully before he grows more serious again. "They never would have called you to request your help if they didn't trust you to a degree and that speaks more of what favor you have in my family's eyes than you can fathom."

He cups the side of her face and peers into those soft blue eyes he's come to know better than his own.

"But most importantly, it doesn't matter what my family thinks because _I_ know you and even when we were supposed to hate one other, I couldn't stay away from you. Do you really think anything could keep me away now?" he grins.

She shakes her head slightly with a small laugh and looks up at him in that way that makes him think he'll do anything and give her everything if it means she'll keep looking at him like that.

"My family knows what you mean to me and that I'm not going anywhere and that's all that matters," he assured her quietly, hoping to ease some of her fears. "I know you've lost more than enough people in your life but you don't have to worry about me. You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. I promise."

She smiles and leans into his touch.

"Good, because I find I kind of like having you around," she tries to tease in an effort to lighten the heavy mood, before she says more seriously. "I'm not going anywhere either. I'm exactly where I want to be."

He smiles at her small reassurance and at the fact that she seems more relaxed now.

"Well that's also good love, because what's a king without his queen?" he teases, laughing when she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, nice try buddy. I'm still not calling you my king," she smirks and he laughs again.

"Very well but perhaps calling me the best lover you've ever had might get a little long-"

He doesn't get to finish when she's playfully whacking his chest again.

"Not subtle enough hm?" he jokes. "Well then perhaps you might consider calling me-"

"Stop, just stop," she laughs. "You're seriously going from bad to worse."

He grins, watching the bright smile on her face that he hasn't seen enough of since they got back from the cabin and it's like his fingers move on their own volition, tracing those soft lips he would know blind.

At her questioning look, he simply smiles.

"I love your smile," he confesses unabashedly and is pleased to see the small blush that stains her cheeks.

"Maybe I should call you my cheesy hybrid instead?" she teases, leaning up to kiss his lips sweetly.

He rolls his eyes but can't help but smile against her lips anyway.

"I don't care what you call me love, as long as it means I'm yours."

Despite their earlier confessions, his words still take them both by surprise.

He hadn't meant to say that so bluntly and as she pulls back, he can't bring himself to meet her gaze right away.

He loves her, of course he does and she knows it. He'd made it clear with his "last love" declaration on the eve of her graduation all those years ago and he'd made it clear ever since she'd come back into his life that despite the years and all that they had changed, his feelings for her had not.

But he'd never referred to himself as _hers_ , even though he knows it's true. Knows that he's been hers for far longer than he'd care to admit and even though she's assured him she's happy with him and is not going anywhere, there's still this damn fear that one day she'll decide that this is all too much and he hopes he hasn't scared her with his foolish words just now but before he has the chance to say anything, he feels her wrap her arms around his neck just then and he looks down at her and finds her looking at him with a soft but warm smile on her face.

"You are mine," she agrees quietly, her gaze never wavering from his and he can see the truth in her eyes, that she's accepted this truth and she's not frightened by it. "And it goes both ways you know? I'm yours too."

He feels his breath still and it's a thousand years of insecurities that come raging at him full force, making him question this is real.

She must read something on his face because she arches a brow and her smile grows a little wider.

"Does that seriously surprise you? I've been yours for a long time now, Klaus," she says, and he sees the hint of color that stains her cheeks in that moment. "I have been for longer than I could admit even to myself."

He kisses her then, and it's not soft or gentle. It's fiery and hungry, the wolf in him needing to claim her after such a confession and as he drops his hands to her thighs and lifts her up, she readily wraps her legs around his waist and allows him to carry her back to their bed where they stay the rest of the night and well into the morning.

xxx

The dinner goes surprisingly well, or rather, as well as any Mikaelson family gathering can go. No one ends up dead nor is any blood spilled despite various threats throughout the four courses and even desert. Perhaps the small success has something to do with the whispered threats he'd given his family before they'd arrived to be on their best behavior during this dinner that Caroline had worked so hard on, but it was all well worth it.

And it turns out he was right -as he usually is he thought to himself with a smirk- and Caroline had nothing to worry about when it came to his family. In fact, he was starting to suspect that soon enough, his family would like her better than they liked him. Even Rebekah.

The party also goes off without a hitch (he may have posted extra men to keep guard to ensure this) and while he and Caroline share several dances together, at some point she leaves him to catch up with her friend Bonnie when the latter shows up and as the night progresses, they both get caught up with other friends and acquaintances but their eyes never stray too far from each other for too long and even across the room, they share secret smiles that are full of promises of all that's to come when they're alone and having their own little celebration to ring in the new year.

At some point, he catches sight of her dancing with Marcel, laughing at something his son was saying to her and his fingers itch to capture her as she was in that moment. To capture this small little bit of infinity, commit it to paper forever.

The night wears on and the hands on the large clock have now inched close to that midnight hour and everyone is pairing up for that highly anticipated midnight kiss and he works his way through the crowd, looking for her.

He rolls his eyes bemusedly when he sees Kol flirting with the Bennett witch and he's both surprised and amused to see that the girl is not exactly rebuffing his brother's so called attempts at being charming. He smirks to himself, wondering how his dear Caroline will take this latest development.

He finally finds her on the balcony in a private part of the house, overlooking the city.

She stands there alone, looking down at the city below her, the light wind softly blowing the skirt of her midnight blue gown that matches the jeweled mask she's wearing. She looks so serene, he almost doesn't want to disturb her but she looks up in his direction just then, and the way her face lights up when she sees him could bring down entire cities to their knees. It would certainly be enough to bring _him_ down to his knees.

He's helpless to return her smile and take the hand she's reached out to him. He tugs on their clasped hands and pulls her close against him, exactly where he can picture her for the rest of his existence.

 _And we are infinite._

"I'm told this is the part of the evening where we're to find a partner for that coveted midnight kiss," he smirks, lightly pushing back some hair out of her face that's escaped the bun she had styled it in.

"So you thought you'd come find me huh?" she teases and he smiles at how bright and happy she looks.

"Always, love," he grins but it's not just a statement.

It's a promise and he watches as her smile grows at his words, at the meaning behind him and she gives him a small nod.

"Well then, I suppose I can accept," she says teasingly. "On one condition," she tries to add seriously.

He arches a brow and waits for her to continue.

"You have to agree to be my morning kiss too."

He laughs and brings up his hand to remove the mask she's wearing, giving him an unobstructed view of her beautiful face.

"Is that so?" he smiles and he swears he's never known such happiness as this. Never knew this type of happiness was possible before her.

 _Because of you, Caroline. All because of you._

"I accept your terms my love, but I should warn you, I am an overachiever and go far and beyond the minimum requirements," he teases. "So it wouldn't just be tomorrow morning, but the one after that, and the next one after that... indefinitely. And it won't always be _just_ a morning kiss," he adds with a sly smirk.

"Oh really?" she tries to ask seriously, her eyes shining brightly with happiness. "Those are big words Mr. Mikaelson. I look forward to seeing you back them up."

He grins and cups the side of her face.

"I'll take that as a challenge."

She laughs and the sounds of the crowds below starting the countdown to the new year carry through the cool night air.

"Good," she smiles as she brings up a hand to place it over his, clasping their hands together, intertwining their fingers as her beautiful blue eyes peer into his own.

The clock strikes midnight and the city all around them erupts in loud bursts of cheers and the sky lights up with fireworks but neither one seems to notice.

He lowers his head and captures her lips in a kiss full of bliss and promise for a future that will always see them together.

No matter the challenges. No matter the roadblocks or struggles. No matter how many new year's countdowns they live through or where in the world they live them, that would never change.

Cities and enemies alike would rise and fall and together, they would walk amongst the ruins and remains and they would walk through and stand proudly before the cities and enemies that would rise after, and their love would be talked about in the different corners of the supernatural world, both by ally and foe, and it would be dubbed by some as one for the ages. As _endless_ , by others.

Yes, no matter the time that passes, every final countdown to a new year is a witness to the ageless couple together and their love they share.

A love, that some would say, defines the infinite...

* * *

 **As always, thank you for reading! :)**


	10. Those Quiet Moments

Just some shameless fluff I wrote when I really needed a distraction and some fluff in my life.

Sorry for any errors I may have missed!

* * *

Klaus quietly lets himself into the room and notes that she's a left a light on for him even though they both know he doesn't need it. He looks towards the bed and shakes his head amusedly when he sees Caroline soundly sleeping and, despite the size of the large bed, she's managed to plant herself in the middle, taking up most of the space.

 _Of course._

He takes a moment to just take in the beautiful blonde currently asleep in his old bed, in one of his Henley's no less, and just like that, he feels some of his frustration from the day ebb away.

It's been over a year since she decided to take a chance on them and yet he doesn't think he'll ever get over getting to come home to Caroline. Especially during days such as this one.

To think only a week ago, life had been as perfect as it gets.

They'd spent the better part of the last year visiting different parts of the world. She'd wanted to visit Tokyo first where they'd stayed a month. They had spent the days exploring all of the ins and outs of the city and the nights were spent exploring each other. Most nights, after they lay a tangle of sweaty limbs basking in the afterglow, they would share stories. He would trace little patterns on her body and ask her questions about herself, yes he would ask about her wants and her dreams and everything she wanted in life now that she was immortal and though she would tease him, she would also indulge him. She would ask him questions and he would regal her with stories of his life, the history he'd lived and the world, the places he'd been and how they had changed over the centuries. Once he'd felt he'd shared enough for one night, he would peel the thin sheet away from her body and they would lose themselves in each other once more.

After Tokyo, they'd gone to Buenos Aires, where he fondly remembers those warm nights dancing close together on those lively streets. Fondly remembers the feel of her warm body moving perfectly against his, tempting each other until one of their controls would snap. Sometimes they wouldn't even make it back to their place and they'd end up taking each other in a darkened and secluded area under the stars.

From Buenos Aires they'd gone to Russia where he'd _finally_ shown her his lone painting after she'd insisted. He'd almost regretted ever mentioning that painting to her in a moment where he was overcome with nerves (not that he would ever admit it) as they came up to where his painting hung, but her reaction had been honest and everything he could have hoped for and more and it'd been all he could do not to kiss her in the middle of that museum, not trusting himself not to get carried away.

She'd picked Italy next, wanting to celebrate her first Carnevale there and after deciding she wanted to hang around the ancient city for a while longer, they had been staying at one of his villas for the past couple of glorious months until he'd gotten a call from his family. He'd tried to convince her to stay behind, they had argued about it in fact, but in the end she'd refused. He'd been more than a little frustrated but in the end they'd agreed on a compromise of sorts where he was satisfied that she wouldn't be directly in any line of danger should it arise.

So the two had returned to New Orleans that week and already he'd had the urge to go on a killing spree more times than he can count. The fact that he hasn't is a true testament to his drastically improved self-control. And to miracles.

Today had been one of those days but he tries not to let his earlier frustrations get to him now.

He sighs quietly and moves to turn off the lamp when he finally notices the picture frame Caroline placed on the nightstand. In it, is a picture of them.

He picks it up and sees it's a picture of them in Venice. He's got his arm wrapped around her but he barely spares a glance at himself, his eyes focused on her, on her smile that seems to light up the entire picture. That same smile he's drawn too many times to count.

She looks so happy here and it gives him pause to think that a monster like him could make anyone this happy. But somehow he has and he won't question his undeserved good luck, all he knows is that he'll do whatever it takes to always make her as happy as she looks in this picture.

He sets the picture back in its place and glances back at the sleeping blonde once more before he turns the lamp off and quietly strips out of his clothes and slips into bed beside her, careful not to wake her. Still, she shifts closer to him, murmuring something incoherently as she curls into him but never opens her eyes. He feels a small smile pull on his lips and he can't help himself from pressing his lips lightly against the top of her head and breathing her in for a split second and as he does, he feels the tension leave his body for the first time since he left that morning.

"You're home," she murmurs sleepily just then and he looks down at her only to see that her eyes are still closed, making him wonder if she's talking in her sleep. "Good," she breathes out as she wraps an arm around him.

When she doesn't say anything else after a moment, he assumes she's fallen back asleep and he smiles a little. He wraps an arm around her too, pulling her closer. While he's never considered himself a cuddler by any means, he'll never give up an opportunity to hold Caroline, to feel her in his arms, especially not when he waited so long and had to hold out hope against hope that they might one day have this.

As he lies there, he thinks about the events of the day and the latest threat facing them and he instinctively tightens his hold. He's never had sleep come easily to him since he turned but he wonders if any sleep will come to him tonight at all as he focuses on Caroline's steady breathing, the familiar weight of her head resting on his shoulder, thinks about all the nights they've fallen asleep just like this, and he thinks about his family, the ones still here and the ones he's lost, all the while his mind reminds him, he's never had more to lose.

xxx

Caroline wakes up feeling more rested than she has in days though a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand tells her it's not even 7 in the morning. Deciding she can afford to stay in the warm and ridiculously comfortable bed, listening to the sound of the rain falling outside for at least a little while longer, she turns on her side to reach out for Klaus (he may not like to admit it but she had amusedly discovered that the original hybrid definitely liked to cuddle), but she's disappointed to find the bed empty.

Frowning, she sits up and finds the room is empty too.

For a second, she wonders if he came home at all but before she can panic, she notices that the light she left on for him has been turned off, and can see the sheets rumpled on his side of the bed letting her know he had lain there at some point last night.

Sitting up completely now, she wonders if he's gone for the day and feels a stab of disappointment that she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye, especially since she hadn't seen him since the previous morning and even then, it had only been briefly. Much like the day before that.

With a sigh, she decides to get up too, the too large bed no longer seeming as appealing without her hybrid and she resolves that after this whole problem is dealt with, she's going to steal him away for at least a month, just the two of them.

She's barely reaching for her phone to send him a good morning text and check that he's okay, knowing he's been under more stress than normal these past few days, but before she can type a message, she gets an incoming message from Rebekah asking, or more like demanding her to get Klaus to stop calling at that hour or threatening to get Freya to turn him into a cat until this entire thing was solved and promising that the latter would be very easily persuaded given Klaus wouldn't stop pestering her too.

Not exactly keen on having a cat for a boyfriend (though she was a little tempted to see him as one), she quickly texts Rebekah back and she's about to give Klaus a call herself when she hears movement coming from the man in questions study.

Seeing that Klaus' family had all moved out and the protection spell that Freya had put in place made it so nobody outside of Caroline and the Mikaelson's including Marcel and only those they invited in could come inside, she knows exactly who's inside that study. With a small smile automatically forming on her lips, she sets her phone down and makes her way to the familiar studio instead.

The door's open and she finds the original hybrid sitting at his desk, intently focused on whatever he's reading. Since he hasn't noticed her yet, a surprising feat actually, she leans against the doorway, just taking him in, wondering how long he's been in here, if he's even slept at all.

After a minute, he seems to finally take notice of her, his eyes lighting up the way they always do when he sees her despite the clear tension she sees in them and in turn, she feels a smile form on her lips, just like it always does.

"Good morning, love," he greets warmly.

"Morning," she smiles as she starts making her way inside the room. "Don't you know it's rude to leave your girlfriend alone in bed?" she chastises teasingly. "And on a Saturday morning too? Everyone knows that Saturdays are for sleeping in."

He smirks a little at that, his eyes roaming over her as she walks towards him, still only in his shirt that she slept in and she feels a shiver run down her spine under his stare.

"My apologies," he says with a hint of a smile as he finally looks up at her, his eyes darker than they had been moments ago, as she stops right beside him and leans back against the desk. "What can I do to acquit myself?"

She leans in and steals what's meant to be a quick kiss, that morning kiss that seemed so trivial to some but was important to her, but she feels him bring up a hand to cup the back of her neck and she allows him to deepen it for a moment before he pulls back, and she gives him another quick peck before she looks down at him.

"Well that's certainly a good start," she smiles as she leans against the desk again. "What are you reading?"

"It's one of the grimoires Marcel and I retrieved yesterday," he explains and she immediately notes that she doesn't hear the same level of excitement in his voice that she heard earlier the previous day when they talked on the phone.

"Haven't found anything helpful yet?" she guesses though she hopes she's wrong.

"Not yet, not in this one or any of those," he sighs with frustration, motioning towards the other books on the desk. "I'm starting to suspect this has all been a bloody waste of time. Tracking these bloody things down. Dealing with those insufferable witches. All of it."

"How long have you been in here working?" she asks with a slight frown. "Did you even sleep at all?"

"A little."

She knows that with him, 'a little' can be anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours tops.

"Maybe it's time for a break," she suggests. "You know, come back and attack it with a clear mind?"

She can see he doesn't look convinced but she's not surprised. Klaus could be even more stubborn than her. Not that she was saying _she_ was stubborn or anything.

"Besides, didn't you tell me yesterday that you guys were still waiting to hear from Kol before doing anything else?"

When he reluctantly nods, she leans over and takes the heavy book from him and sets it on the desk behind her.

"Okay then," she says. "Take a small break. I'm not saying the whole day or anything. Just, clear your head so you're not so frustrated when your family arrives later because we all know none of you do well when you guys begin snapping at each other."

 _That_ was putting it lightly.

"And given that I've already had Rebekah text me this morning, I think your siblings might be in favor of you taking a break too."

He rolls his eyes but glances back at the grimoire and she sees the torn look on his face so she decides it's time to distract him, knowing he won't stop stressing over this otherwise.

She moves onto the chair and settles so she's now straddling his lap and she feels his hands drop down to her hips, gripping them gently. He looks up at her, watches as she gently pushes his hair back before she wraps her arms around his neck and leans in to kiss him.

She kisses him softly, slowly, and even though she can tell he's distracted at first, he still responds and with every press of her lips against his, she feels some of the tension leave his shoulders until he's wrapping his arms tightly around her as he deepens the kiss. She sighs contentedly as his tongue slips against hers and she holds him closer.

She pulls back after a moment and rests her forehead against his.

"There's still time," she says softly and feels him sigh. "And you don't have to figure this out on your own you know? You have awesome people helping you, like your family and your awesome girlfriend, who found some things that might be useful," she adds teasingly as she pulls back to meet his eyes.

"Did she?" he asks and though she hears his slightly amused undertone, she sees the intrigue in his eyes.

"Yup," she confirms. "It's not a ton or anything, but I showed it to Rebekah yesterday and she agreed with me that it could be handy. I can show it to you too and if you take a break with me right now, I'll even let you help me with more of my research later."

"Is that so?" he asks with a hint of a smile.

"Uh huh," she nods as she gently runs her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. "Besides, you still owe me for this morning remember?" she adds with an arched brow, doing her best to maintain a serious expression.

He concedes with a small chuckle and she almost smiles triumphantly at the sound, but she forgets what she was thinking about when he looks up at her with those mesmerizing blue eyes she's come to love so much.

"What did you have in mind for my penance?" he asks as he starts rubbing small circles on her hips with his thumbs.

"Well," she pretends to consider it. "I was thinking, breakfast sounds nice."

"Does it?"

"Mhm," she nods again. "After breakfast I was thinking a shower might be nice too."

"Would you by chance require any assistance with that?" he asks as he starts tracing a pattern along her bare thigh and it's hard not to react to the simple touch.

"Maybe," she tries to say nonchalantly, not wanting to make this too easy for him. "There's always that one spot that's hard to reach on your own."

"I'd be more than happy to help you reach that, and any other hard to reach places, love," he smirks as he continues tracing that pattern on her skin though he moves his hand higher.

She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose.

"Your lines are still terrible," she says laughingly. "You're lucky you're so cute."

Now it's his turn to wrinkle his nose and she laughs, knowing Klaus' derision for the word cute when applied to him.

She leans in and kisses him again and it's not long before she gets lost in him. In his taste, the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, his scent, all of it and for a moment, it's like another one of their quiet mornings back in the villa. Just the two of them basking in being with each other.

But she knew when she agreed to be with him that it wouldn't all be sunshine and exotic trips, there will always be enemies, old and new, but she knows that with him or for him, she's willing to fight to hell and back. And even though this situation isn't exactly ideal, she knows there's nowhere else she'd rather be.

She smiles into the kiss and feels him pull her closer.

She's not sure how long they sit there, wrapped up in each other as they kiss, slow but deep, their tongues dancing lazily against each other. She's well aware she's dressed in nothing but his shirt and panties, and she knows he's aware of it too, the evidence of his growing arousal she can feel certainly attesting to the fact too, but neither one attempts to do anything more than kiss, both content with enjoying this quiet moment with each other, especially given how rare these moments have become since their return to the Big Easy.

She's missed him, missed these quiet moments with him and by the way he's holding her, she thinks he has too.

Even when they break the kiss, they don't pull apart. She keeps her arms wrapped around his neck, keeps playing with the hair at the nape of his neck and he slips his hand under her shirt, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb on the small of her back.

They exchange smiles and laughs when he reaches that ticklish spot he'd been thrilled to find months ago, and they exchange what feels like a dozen more kisses and somewhere in the back of her mind she mentally pats herself for effectively distracting him but that just feels like an added bonus.

When he looks up at her, his gaze warm and happy and full of a love she'd never thought she'd receive, she suddenly feels her throat clogged with emotion and maybe she feels her eyes grow a little misty because even though she knows how he feels about her, it doesn't lessen the effect any less when he looks at her this way.

Noticing a change, he raises a brow slightly, looks at her questioningly but she quickly shakes her head and gives him a blinding smile before she kisses him again, hoping to pour all the love she'll never fully be able to convey with words into that kiss.

She feels him smile into the kiss and soon she's smiling too, which makes it hard to really kiss effectively and the two end up pulling away, the sound of their quiet laughter filling the air as they do. He looks up at her with that dimpled smile that matches her own and she rests her forehead against his, closing her eyes and he does the same, both just relishing in the other's company.

There are still things to do, they are _definitely_ going to get to breakfast and that shower, though maybe not in that order anymore (the feel of his hands on her skin and lips against hers have certainly made her hungry for something that's not food), but with nothing but the quiet sound of their breathing and the rain pattering softly outside, neither one is in a rush for this quiet moment to end.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


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